Cliff's Edge
by flyingagainstthewind
Summary: Continuation of Twilight Series post-BD. There's a lot vampires don't know about hybrids. Nessie is growing up fast and has to balance a new town, her first school, love and friends. The Cullen family is expanding. Volume One in the Forever series. Jake x Nessie
1. Arrival

BOOK ONE - CLIFF'S EDGE

 _PART ONE - Beginnings_

 _Chapter One - Arrival_

 _Dedicated to Nathan. You are my number one._

I had never felt butterflies like this before. Each tiny bump the car rolled over threatened to send me over the edge, into nausea.

"Alice, slow it down, will you?" I groaned, holding on to the dashboard.

"Let's go over the story again," Alice didn't take her eyes off the road. "You are?"

"Renesmee Cullen, twin sister of Isabella Cullen," I grumbled. We'd gone over the story a million times. Being the newest member of the family sucked.

"Nieces to Carlisle and Esme Cullen, our legal guardians after our parents' oh-so tragic death," I stroked my index finger down my cheek, mimicking sadness.

"And the rest of us?" Alice barely glanced at me.

"Alice and Emmett McCarty, brother and sister, rescued from foster care. Single father was a patient of Carlisle's before his also oh-so tragic demise. Edward Masen, taken in as a gesture to a family friend who is unable to provide care. Jasper and Rosalie Whitlock, also twins, taken in after their hiker parents went missing in the mountains."

"Jake and Seth?" Alice was smiling now. I truly had it down pat.

"Family friends, decided to stay with the fantastic Cullen family for the duration of their schooling. Both have at least one parent alive and well," I smiled fondly, thinking of my imprint and his best friend. Seth joining us was a last minute decision - Leah had created a hugely toxic atmosphere with her opposition to the upcoming wedding.

Sue and Charlie got engaged not long after the battle with the Volturi. When the marriage was official, Charlie would become a Quileute parent. Seth would be my uncle, Leah my aunt. Their stepsister, my mother, and their brother in law my father. Charlie would be let in on the whole secret. Not just Jake being a werewolf, but all the legends.

Including vampires. Nobody said it out loud, but everyone was worried he would turn against us. Be disgusted with what we were - what I was. And all the lies we told him. The worry sat in the pit of my stomach at all times, rolling around like a black cannonball.

"Nessie, we're here," Alice prodded me gently as we pulled up to the school. We'd moved to a heavily wooded, medium-sized town in Oregon. The high school was decent looking enough. The butterflies rose to my chest. I knew there would be stares. When you come from an impossibly attractive family, the stares are part of the package.

"It's going to be fine," Jasper assured me from the backseat. Of course he could feel my tension. The three of us exited the car - we'd tried to be as inconspicuous as possible, taking a simple black BMW. Of course, in this town, everyone drove rusted up trucks. We stuck out like a sore thumb.

Already a crowd of car-appreciating geeks had formed. Jake and Seth had just pulled up on their motorcycles - a gift from Carlisle - and the Volvo was already parked, with my parents, Emmett and Rose waiting for us. I just about tore across the damp asphalt, desperate to get close to Jacob. The moment I saw him, all the butterflies fell down.

"You okay?" Jake asked, steadying me with a hand on my arm. I nodded, grateful to be near my best friend. My protector, my everything was Jake. He was everything and anything I needed him to be - brother, friend, confidant. Lover, even, though I was barely sixteen in my physique.

"Everyone have their schedules?" Edward asked, craning his neck over Emmett. We formed a sort of squarish circle and compared classes. Emmett, Rose, Jasper and Edward would be seniors, so we had no classes together. Alice, Bella, Seth, Jake and I were all juniors.

I had Socials first, with Jake and Seth. Afterwards would be English with Seth and Bella. Then lunch, Art with Jake and Seth, then Drama with Alice. Only two classes with Jake?! Hell no!

Bella looked a little too old to be a junior, but we had to keep up the twin charade. Edward, though, was annoyed that he wouldn't be able to spend time with her. I gagged at that - they had all night, for God's sake.

"Let's get to Socials," Jake suggested as the first bell rang. He steered me with a hand on my elbow, enough that we were maintaining contact in the sea of staring students. The socials room was in the downstairs wing, near the end. Thankfully Jake and Seth's large bodies made other students not want to cross us. We made it to the classroom without incident.

The room looked cozy. Grey light from the overcast clouds pooled over everything, creating a silvery effect. Jake and Seth picked a table in the very back. I sat directly in front of them, leaving the seat next to me open. Hopefully I could make a friend. The tables each sat two people, so I could get some one-on-one time with a human. By myself!

The room filled up slowly, and nobody sat by me. Did I look too available? Was I that overly eager girl who would chat your ear off? It took a minute to hit me. Jacob and Seth looked intimidating as hell. Nobody wanted to sit near that, or with the girl so obviously under their protection.

I gave up hope when the late bell rang. All the seats were filled - besides mine. That was when a rather frazzled looking girl swanned into the room.

Her skin was slightly tanned, as if she spent a lot of time in the garden. Her hair, which was in a messy pile at the back of her head, was a lovely soft brown highlighted with sunny gold. Freckles marched haphazardly across her high cheekbones and angular nose. Her full lips were parted in worry.

"Sorry - S-sorry I'm a little late!" She gushed, scanning the room with a schedule clutched in her hand. "I forgot where the Socials room was!"

"Yes," said the male teacher dryly. "Juliet, nice of you to join us. If you'll have a seat, we can begin."

"Such a hare-brain," the girl, Juliet, whispered as she marched over to my table. She made nervous eye contact with me - her eyes were a foresty green, dotted with brown - before sitting in her seat.

"Hi," I whispered, while the teacher launched into his introduction lecture. "I'm Renesmee."

"Juliet," she answered, meeting my eyes with a sidelong glance. "You're new here."

"Just moved from Washington with my family," I told her proudly. "All… eleven of us."

"Eleven?" Her eyes widened. "Jesus!"

"A lot of us are adopted," I traced my finger absentmindedly over the smooth, shiny wood in front of us. "Carlisle and Esme are my uncle and aunt, they took us in along with some foster kids and our two family friends, Jake and Seth."

"Wow," Juliet dropped her gaze, suddenly seeming nervous. We made small talk for the rest of class, although she skirted revealing too many personal details about herself. She seemed great enough, though, and by the end of class we had exchanged numbers and I had a new friend. Her natural scent was mouth-watering, but not in the sense that I wanted to suck her blood. It was like sunny grass, vanilla and sun-warmed strawberries. Yum.

"What's your next class?" Juliet asked, hoisting a frayed tote bag over her shoulder while the bell echoed. I pretended to think about it.

"English," I answered. "How about you?"

"Math," she responded sullenly. "I'd hoped we would have another class together."

"After lunch I've got art and drama," I offered chipperly. Her face brightened immediately.

"So have I!" She said as we walked towards the door. Jacob and Seth hung back a little. "I'll see you in art, then."

"Bye!" I grinned as she turned down the hallway. Turning to my boys, I gave two huge thumbs up.

"Good job, Ness," Jake casually slung an arm over my shoulder. "Made your first friend."

"It feels good," I told him, reaching out for Seth's arm. The three of us walked to Jake's home ec class, linked up together. We really were three peas in a pod. It had been that way since I was born, and would be that way until the end of time.

Unless Seth imprinted and grew old and died alongside his wife. My heart squeezed painfully at that thought. I almost hated the mortal he would fall in love with - could I be prepared to love her as a sister when she was the reason my Seth would die? Well, nevermind that. Not all wolves imprinted, and every second with my best friend was priceless. No use worrying.

"English, m'lady?" Seth asked, offering his hand after we said goodbye to Jake. I curtsied and let Seth lead me up the cement staircase to the English room. The room was broad, with bean bags spread out around low coffee tables. Bella was already sitting at a coffee table in the corner, her bag resting on the purple bean bag next to her and her binder on the green bean bag next to that. Nobody dared join the dark-haired, intimidating vampire. I could have laughed at that - my mom was such a cutie in private. In public, she looked like she'd snap your neck without putting a hair out of place.

I plopped down on the purple bean bag while Seth almost crushed the green one.

"How was your first class, nudger?" Bella leaned in and whispered to me.

"It was great, I made a friend named Juliet. She's a little private but, oh my God, Mom, so cute and funny!" I gushed. Seth kicked my bean bag, almost catapulting me out the window.

"Shit - Bella," I corrected myself quickly.

"Language!" Bella ordered, giving me her mom-look.

"You aren't my mom," I stuck out my tongue at her. "Mind your own business."

The conversations died down when the teacher entered the room. She was nice looking enough, with straight sheets of white blonde hair and big blue eyes. Her loose-flowing purple dress made her look more like a witch than a teacher.

"Welcome to junior English," she announced grandly, opening her arms wide. "In this course, we will explore literature in its finest form, unlock your deepest capabilities and turn each and every student into a poet, an author… Whatever they desire."

She pivoted on her black heels, facing the room. "Some of you are new to this town and do not know me. My name is Annalise Hemlock - but you may call me Lise. I see we have three newcomers here. Will you introduce yourselves?"

All eyes had been waiting for an excuse to jump on us. Now, unabashedly, every single body in the room rotated to look directly at us for the first time.

"My name is Bella Cullen," Bella spoke clearly and without hesitation. "My twin sister, Renesmee, and our family friend, Seth Clearwater. We moved here from Washington."

"Ah, twins," Lise eyed the two of us, obviously mentally comparing our faces. "Do you have the fabled telepathic twin connection? Can you share feelings without spoken word?"

I grinned sidelong at Bella. "Something like that."

The teacher droned on and on. She was a little weird, if I was honest. Her whole gimmick seemed to be about unlocking your inner potential. She seemed to be a favorite among students, though, so we ended up giving her the benefit of the doubt.

At lunch, the Cullens dominated a table in the center of the room. United, they rested casually on the chairs looking more like Greek deities than students. Definitely out of place in the less-than-fancy lunchroom.

I caught Juliet's eye at a table not far from there. She was sitting with two boys, surrounded by comic books. I grinned and waved a hello before pointing to my family's table. She took them in with wide eyes.

"Hey, guys," I said hurriedly to my vampires. "Is it okay if I sit with my new friend? Where's the wolves?"

"Conference call in the forest," Edward rolled his eyes slightly. "Go ahead, love."

"Thanks! Bye!" I rushed over to Juliet's table. She pushed out a chair for me with her hiking-boot clad food. I flopped down gratefully into the hard blue plastic.

"How was Math?" I asked, resting my chin on my hands. The two boys jerked up from their comic books suddenly, staring at me. Great.

"It was horrible," Juliet snorted. "Lewis, Harper, this is Renesmee."

Lewis, a boy with mousy brown curls and large glasses, managed a half-smile. Harper, with spiky black hair and dark almond shaped eyes nodded at me.

"It's nice to meet you," I offered, trying to seem friendly. Out of habit, I began twisting a bronze curl over and over my finger. The two boys huddled together, whispering.

"What the hell do you think she is?" Harper asked. Obviously they thought I couldn't hear.

"Part angel, maybe," Lewis breathed. "Maybe a superhero, like Wonder woman."

I tried really hard not to laugh at that.

The boys were friendly enough when they actually spoke to me. Geeky, of course, and awkward, but very funny. I learned that Harper was Juliet's boyfriend, and Lewis was their best friend - slash sidekick, according to Harper. Maybe these people would be my first human friends.


	2. Gravity

_Chapter Two - Gravity_

Seth POV

Jake and I walked into the cafeteria ten minutes into lunch. A lot of people stared at us, but nobody said anything thankfully. My eyes were on the food that the Cullens had snuck onto the trays they'd got for us - to make it look like they were eating.

We sat and started wolfing down the food, literally. Rosalie made sort of a scrunchy face at us. I just winked at her. She pretended to be so cold and horrible, but I knew she thought I was cute in a little brother kind of way.

Jake kept throwing looks at Nessie between mouthfuls. She was sitting at a table with three others who had their backs to us. Two guys and the girl from Socials class. I recognized the back of her head. Her hair really was lovely. I didn't even realize I was staring until my eyes met Nessie's. Her brow was slightly puckered. She was giving me the 'Dude, cut it out' face.

I just went back to focusing on my carb intake. The Cullens quietly discussed their days. So far, no trouble with the humans. A few were crushing pretty hard on various members of the family, but they all had the decency to avoid us.

The bell rang, signaling it was time for art class. This would be exciting, because Jake and I were really good with our hands. We followed Nessie and her friends out of the cafeteria, moving down the hall towards the art room. People began to fill the space between our two groups, so Nessie turned to wave us forward.

Everything happened in slow motion. Suddenly, the hallway was completely silent. Laughter, shouts and conversations turned to a dull ringing. Nessie twisted, her bronze curls catching the overhead lights and reflecting. Her movement caught her friend's attention. The girl turned as well, her eyes passing across Jake, traveling up my face and meeting my eyes with the force of a shotgun blast.

My entire world exploded with color at that moment. Everything was sharper, brighter, sweeter. Her lovely eyes, a blend of greens, golds and rust red, were infinite as the forest under my paws. Everything she was surrounded me suddenly. The freckles dancing along her face, her curly brown lashes, messy hair. She was the only one who mattered.

"Dude," Jake's voice echoed. "Seth? Seth!"

A strong hand thudded my back. It had only been about two seconds in real time. The girl's lovely face was slightly tweaked with concern. I kept moving, ducking my head. The last thing I wanted to do was look away from her, but I had to maintain normalcy.

"Sorry, guess I ate too fast," I said loud enough for everyone to hear. A few people had noticed my little holdup. Jake stared at me as we made our way through the crowd. Did he know what just happened? Being an imprint himself, he probably did.

We entered the art room as a pack. Some Asian kid with his arm possessively around the girl's waist, the girl, Nessie, Jake and I. We found a table in the corner of the room and sat on the low stools. When we were settled, the girl met my eyes again and smiled.

"Hi," she blinked. "I'm Juliet."

"Juliet," I repeated. "Hiya - er, I'm Seth. Clearwater."

"And I'm Jacob," Jake nudged me. I swallowed, trying not to creep the girl out.

"I'm Harper," the scrawny kid said annoyingly. "Julie's boyfriend."

He was sizing me up, obviously. I flexed slightly. Nessie kicked me under the table, obviously annoyed with my display of masculinity.

"So, Nessie," Jake said loudly. "Seth just im-printed out his essay on Romeo and Juliet."

"The term is printed," Harper corrected without looking away from me. "Also, it's the first day of school, how could you possibly have an essay?"

"We take extra online courses," Jake announced. "Because we're advanced."

"Evidently," Harper rolled his eyes. Juliet nudged him, shaking her head slightly. She was so kind.

Nessie's eyes were wide. She'd caught the hidden meaning behind Jake's words easily.

"Seth, how was your essay?" She urged, meeting my eyes.

"It was amazing, I really feel like my insight on the world has changed now. Juliet's character really influenced me," I told her, blushing.

"It wasn't even that good of a play," Harper interjected.

"Harper," Juliet said quietly. "Can you not?"

They had a quiet discussion. Through class, Nessie tried to lighten the tension and I tried to ask Juliet questions about herself. Every little detail was so interesting to me. Harper tried to block every attempt at communication between us - but Juliet could feel the spark too. I knew it. She looked at me with such warmth, such easy acceptance. She had to feel it, too.

Renesmee POV

I was warring with myself for the entire hour of art class. Juliet was Seth's imprint. They would grow up together and die. It hung, inevitably. Juliet was sixteen, now. We had just over sixty years until I'd lose my best friend and possible best friend. The pain looming in the distance crushed me.

It made me want to hate her, hate Juliet. But it wasn't possible. She was so warm and fun, it was impossible to make myself hate her. I only hated what she was, what happened between her and Seth.

And what about Harper? This would ruin their little group's friendship dynamic completely. How would Harper feel when his girlfriend left him for the hot new guy? Harper wasn't unattractive, but he wasn't the best looking guy and obviously had self-confidence issues.

When the bell rang, Seth and Harper walked us to drama, shouldering for dominance. I banished them both, annoyed, and dragged Juliet into class.

"Seth is so nice," Juliet gushed the second we were alone. "I mean wow - he's really something special."

"You're dating Harper," I reminded her, unable to keep slight resentment out of my voice. She definitely noticed. A slight dent formed between her brows.

"Okay, who said I wanted to date Seth?" She sounded slightly upset. I genuinely felt bad.

"I'm sorry," I told her. "I didn't - I'm just protective over Seth. I didn't mean to accuse you of anything."

"That's alright," Juliet put an arm around my waist, side-hugging me. The human contact actually felt really good, for someone who'd grown up with only vampires and werewolves. I was almost disappointed when she let go.

Alice bounded into drama class, bright as ever. I went in to hug her and quickly placed my hand on her cheek, letting her know who Juliet was and that Seth had imprinted.

"I'm getting better at seeing around the wolves," she breathed as the teacher entered. "I don't get unexpected visions of them but if I strain, and know the wolf well enough, I can get a really good picture of what'll happen."

"Can you see anything now?" I hissed back, looking nonchalant.

"I'll have a look. Thanks to the imprint, some things are likely to be set in stone at this point," she told me, scanning the room to make sure no one had clued into our private conversation.

"Thanks, let me know what you find," I nodded once. We tuned into the teacher after that. The hour and fifteen minutes was boring. We mostly played get-to-know-you games.

"You should come over and hang out sometime soon," I told Juliet as the bell rang. "We can do girl's night, and you can get to know my sisters."

"That sounds awesome," Juliet grinned. "I'd really like that, actually."

"Why don't we do dinner and some movies tomorrow? Come over after school?"

"Would that be okay with your aunt and uncle?" Juliet asked, looking a little worried. I reached out and smoothed the dent between her eyebrows with my finger.

"Yes. It will be fine, I'll let Esme know when I get home," I smiled. "Text me tonight!"

We said our goodbyes, Juliet heading for the bus. I met up with the rest of the family in the parking lot.

"Ness, want to ride with me?" Jake gestured to his motorcycle. Seth was straddling his own bike with a dreamy look on his face.

"Sorry, Jake, gotta talk to Bella and Edward," I kissed his cheek. He pouted at me, grabbing my hand.

"Please?" He whined. "I haven't seen you at all today!"

I laughed, knowing damn well he'd seen me barely an hour and a half ago. I let him helmet me anyways, climbing onto the bike behind him. With my arms wrapped around his waist and my cheek pressed into his back, I felt complete. I could easily hear his steady heartbeat with my hybrid ears. I squeezed a little tighter than necessary. Jake was my wolf.

We ripped through the streets, my long bronze curls flying out behind me. We rode alongside Seth, dipping this way and that with the engines purring underneath us.

The sun started to set, creating a fire in the sky. It was still overcast, so the huge yellow orange and pink clouds blanketed the little town. Everything wasn't perfect - but everything was good. Seth threw back his head, laughing into the dusky air.


	3. Moonlight

_Chapter Three - Moonlight_

Back at the house, we organized a family meeting to go over the day's events. I stood in the centre of the living room, looking at everyone seated on the couches.

"Okay, everyone," I began. I launched into the tale, starting with meeting Juliet, the imprint, her relationship with Harper. I finished off by telling them she was coming over for dinner and movies after school the next day.

"Well, congratulations, Seth," Carlisle clapped Seth's back. "You want to call your family, let them know?"

"I guess so," Seth shrugged. "I don't really talk to them much anymore."

"Seth, that's ridiculous!" Esme put her hands on her hips, peering up at the boy. "Why?"

"Leah's poisoned our mom. She's totally anti-Cullen! They're both being ridiculous. Bella's gonna be our sister soon, and Edward's gonna be our brother in law. It's putting a real strain on Charlie. He doesn't know why they hate you so much - and he won't know until the marriage is sealed," Seth fumed. "So, no, I really don't want to talk to them."

My stomach dropped as Esme hugged Seth. What if Leah poisoned Charlie as well? Would my grandpa hate me? Would he call me a monster, an abomination like the other wolves did before my birth? Jacob's imprint was the only thing that changed their minds, in the end.

I suddenly didn't feel like talking much. All the happy bubbles that had built up in my chest popped, leaving an unpleasant and bitter soapy residue.

"I'm gonna go work on my homework," I grabbed my tote bag from the floor and hoisted it over my shoulder. Edward and Jasper were both watching me sympathetically - or in Jasper's case, empathetically. I just jogged up the carpeted stairs, down the long hallway and up another flight of stairs. Down that hall was my bedroom, my safe haven.

I threw down my bag and pulled out my phone without even realizing it. The only person I wanted to talk to was Juliet. I flopped onto the bed and pulled up a new text conversation.

Me: Hey, what's up?

Juliet texted back almost instantly.

Juliet: Nothing, bored. What's up with u?

Me: Ugh, family drama. Totally cool if you come over tomorrow tho.

Juliet: Awesome, what kind of drama?

Me: My grandpa is getting remarried. His step daughter doesn't like grandpa's kids but his step son does. Everyone is fighting.

Juliet: Your uncle's dad is getting remarried and your uncle has drama with the step siblings? They sound like teenagers!

Me: U don't even know, man. It sucks!

Juliet: Damn. We'll take your mind off it tomorrow :-)

Juliet and I texted all the way until dinner, when I had to put my phone away. After Jake, Seth and I were done eating, we resumed our conversation easily. It was so easy to talk to her. She didn't talk about her family much, so we mostly focused on our interests, hobbies and getting to know each other.

I learned how she met Harper, how dependant he was on her. He got jealous easily, Lewis was the only guy she was really allowed to be friends with. That was ridiculous to me - why would you limit who your partner talks to?!

Around eleven, we said goodnight and Jake knocked softly at my door.

"Come in," I whispered. He entered, shutting the door behind him.

"Can't sleep?" I asked, sitting up in the patch of moonlight on the wide bed. Jake shook his head. I smiled and opened up the covers, motioning for him to join me.

"Won't your parents get mad?" Jake asked, climbing into bed with me anyways. I snuggled up to him automatically.

"I think they're a little preoccupied," I whispered. "Besides, I slept with you all the time when I was a baby. Why's it different now?"

"You're right," he rumbled. I drifted off to sleep, listening to the steady flow of the river near our house, the soft hum of the house, quiet murmurs every so often, Jake's heartbeat and his steady breathing.

I think, for most people, anyways, waking up with a vampire standing over your bed is not a great way to start the morning. On the other hand, it was a regular occurrence for me.

"Fun night, have we?" Emmett folded his arms, the thick veins standing out as he grinned down at Jake and I, entwined under my lilac purple duvet.

"Emmett," I closed my eyes. "Vampire limbs can be reattached, right?"

"Yeah, with some venom," Emmett answered. He sounded confused.

"You have thirty seconds to leave my bedroom and my business before I ask Rosalie to remove your you-know-what and hide it," I growled. "March."

Emmett yelped like a scared dog. "Alright, Esme just wanted me to tell you she made pancakes, bye!"

He was gone in a flash. Jake's deep chuckle vibrated next to me. I snuggled in deeper, not wanting to get out of the warm bed. But, sure enough, Esme's mouth-watering chocolate chip pancakes taunted me from downstairs. I could faintly smell the decadent chocolate, melted into the hot, doughy pancake… the creamy butter, melting over it. I typically hated human food, but damn Esme made some delicious pancakes.

"Time to get up, little vampire," Jake patted my butt. "C'mon."

I got up, stretching out. My curls had decided to behave today, thankfully, but it was almost time for a haircut. They were starting to hang past my waist.

Downstairs, Seth was already shoving whole pancakes into his mouth. Luckily Esme always made a ton, knowing the wolf boys'… wolfish appetites. We sat at the kitchen table in a puddle of golden sunlight. Esme's hand sparkled as she placed a dish of hot cakes before us.

"Are the others skipping today?" I waved out the window with my fork.

"Sunlight won't last, clouds incoming," Alice waltzed into the room. "There's an outfit on your bed."

Sure enough, heavy dark clouds descended over the town, stripping away the beautiful light. I sighed, at least I enjoyed it while it lasted. After breakfast I ran at top speed up to my room. On the now-tidy bed was an outfit for me.

A pair of slightly pre-distressed overalls, a white t-shirt and a cute pair of brown combat boots. Thank you, Alice. I dressed quickly, leaving my curls down and free. I did my usual makeup, applying a little mascara and lipgloss.

"Renesmee, time to go!" Bella yelled from downstairs. I grabbed my tote bag, checked to make sure I had what I needed and thundered down the stairs behind Jake and Seth.

It was warm and humid outside. Everything was drenched in a greyish-blue colour from the clouds. The sky loomed over us, threatening a thunderstorm and probably those warm, fat raindrops. I grinned. My favorite weather was humid summer storms. There was a picture of me on Carlisle's desk from the day we moved here, sitting on the window seat in the attic overlooking the forest while rain pounded the glass. I was wearing my favorite white dress and holding a single red rose. Alice posed me and took the photo, making sure I looked very deep in thought. I pretended to be thinking of my lost love, wondering if he'd ever return. I preferred the picture we took right after that, of Alice and I collapsed on the floor with our heads together, in the middle of laughter. That picture was on my dresser.

"Who are you riding with?" Edward asked, handing me an apple. I stuck it in my bag for later with a smile of thanks.

"I'll ride in the Jeep with Em and Rose," I pointed to the tall, currently roofless car. Edward nodded, reminding me of the merits of seatbelts - as if Rose would ever let me ride without one - and headed to his Volvo where Bella was waiting with a sappy smile.

I easily vaulted into the Jeep, declining Emmett's help. After Rose made sure I strapped in, we were off. I liked riding in the Jeep best out of all the cars. We were higher up than regular vehicles, and that made me feel special and tall. And powerful.

At school, I met up with Juliet outside the Socials room. We hugged, already familiar with each other. Jake and Seth hadn't arrived yet, probably at their lockers. That was when a girl with a blonde bob walked up to us, hips swaying.

"Juliet, so nice to see you," the girl sniffed, looking the opposite of what she said. Juliet cringed away. The girl barely noticed. She was too focused on me.

"Hi, I'm Amber Reese," she said with a charming, too-white smile. I gave her a terse smile - there was no reason for me to be hostile yet, but I didn't have a good feeling about this girl.

"Are you dating Jacob Black?" Amber asked point blank, trying to seem nonchalant. I fought to remain neutral - there was my reason not to like her.

"I am not," I answered. She grinned triumphantly.

"Oh, so is he single?" She waited for my nod before continuing. "Look, you're knew, you don't know who to hang with yet. I get it. My friends and I sit at the table by the window. Come join us, oh, and bring that yummy Seth kid. See ya around."

Juliet turned bright red as Amber attempted to swan away gracefully - the swing of her hips was much too forced. I didn't care about critiquing Amber's exit, though. I was more focused on my friend, who looked like she might cry.

"Uh, can you believe that?" I rolled my eyes. "That was so rude. Who does she think she is, Britney Spears?"

Juliet laughed nervously. "That's Amber. She probably does think she's Britney."

"Whatever," I slung my arm around Juliet's shoulder. "She'll be disappointed to find out I'm already hanging with the coolest girl in school."

Juliet leaned into me, the tension leaving her face. My heart twinged as I realized she'd been genuinely worried I'd hang out with Amber instead. Yeah, not even if Hell froze over. Seth chose that moment to bound up to us as the first bell rang, a wide smile on his face.

"Hi, Seth," Juliet smiled. If it was possible, Seth's face got even brighter.

"Hi, Juliet," Seth ran a hand over the back of his neck. "Er, did you sleep well?"

"I can't complain," she answered with a laugh. We filtered into the classroom, going to the seats we chose yesterday. Throughout the class, Seth and Juliet resumed their little game from yesterday. They took turns asking each other questions, quietly, while the teacher wasn't paying attention. At the end of class, with thorough prompting from Jake, Seth asked for her number.

"Not - er, not that I'm implicating anything untowards," Seth stammered, his dark cheeks taking on a more russet tone.

"No," Juliet didn't take her eyes away from his as she wrote her number across a scrap paper. "Of course not."

They both seemed a little dazed after the interaction. Seth's hand brushed Juliet's as she handed him the paper. I smiled inwardly, knowing they were meant to be together.

And they're going to die together, too, the wicked little voice in the back of my head chimed. I squashed it. Humans experienced loss all the time - just because I hit the life jackpot didn't mean I should be exempt from that as well. It was selfish of me to expect my friends to stick around forever, stay young forever just because I was.


	4. Just Like Magic

_Chapter Four - Just Like Magic_

In English, Seth could barely sit still. He was positively wriggling with glee, texting Juliet while Lise had her back turned. Bella just smiled and shook her head. After English, Seth and Jake joined us for lunch. Lewis's eyes nearly fell out of his head when the boys sat down on either side of me. Harper was the only one unhappy to see us. His face turned an angry shade of red, and he scooted his chair closer to Juliet's.

I didn't feel so bad, suddenly, about the breakup that would probably occur soon. Realistically, Harper was a possessive and jealous, controlling little weiner. I'd likely celebrate when they broke it off - Juliet deserved someone who wouldn't treat her like property. Someone like Seth.

Lunch was sufficiently awkward. Harper attempted to block any conversation between Seth and Juliet. That threw Juliet into a bad mood and Seth into a worse one. Lewis was a ball of anxiety after absorbing all the tension. Jake and I's jokes all fell flat when no one was in the mood to laugh or have a good time.

When the bell rang, I grabbed Juliet and just about sprinted to art class, eager to escape the atmosphere.

"God, can you believe it?" Juliet huffed, plunking down into her seat. "Harper's been crazy since yesterday."

"I can believe it," I nodded. "No offense, Jules, but Harper has got a problem."

"I know," she let her head drop into her hands. I dropped the subject when Jake and Seth entered. After a few moments, the easygoing atmosphere from Socials returned. We laughed and joked, messing around with art supplies and drawing in our sketchbooks. After art, Juliet and I reluctantly said goodbye to our imprints.

"I don't know what it is about Seth," Juliet rubbed her forehead as we walked into Drama together. "He's got this… spark. He's like a little light and I just want to be around him. I've known him for two days!"

"Seth is a great guy," I agreed. "Maybe this is out of place, but you two have a connection."

"It's like magic," she whispered as class started. "Just like magic."

After school, I led Juliet across the parking lot to our family's usual parking spot. Usual as in everyone else was afraid to park near the Cullens. She stared at the cars with wide eyes for a half second before covering up her shocked expression.

"We'll take the Jeep!" I called to Emmett. He was standing in front of it while Rose perched on the hood. Once I got a thumbs up, I boosted my new friend into the massive car. She looked at the complicated harness and shook her head.

"Here," I reached over and showed her a simpler seatbelt for normal traveling. Once we were both plugged in safely, Rose and Emmett joined us.

"It's nice to meet you," Rosalie twisted around, facing Juliet. "I'm Rosalie, but I'm sure Renesmee has already told you all about her favorite sister."

"You're the one who does her hair," Juliet smiled. "It's nice to meet you, as well."

"I'm Emmett," Em caught Juliet's eye in the rearview mirror, grinning mischievously. "The favorite brother."

"The bear," Juliet nodded. We all chatted amicably on the drive home. When we got to the house, Juliet was stunned.

I could see where she was coming from - the house was a sunny yellow three-level Victorian house with a wraparound porch, a tower with bay windows, and cute peaked roofing. It was situated in a clearing that more resembled a meadow, surrounded by forest. Behind the house was a slope that led down to the creek, and further on was a larger river and a secret waterfall. The house was awesome, but I missed Forks.

The front yard was covered with flowers. Esme's new habit - she'd taken to gardening. It was barely September, so the flowers hadn't succumbed to the chill of fall yet. I led the stunned Juliet inside the house, where Esme had conveniently just finished baking chocolate chip cookies.

"Auntie Esme, we're home!" I called, louder than necessary. She bustled from the kitchen to the right of the front door, wearing oven mitts. There was some convenient flour on her cheek.

"Hi, girls!" Esme pulled off the oven mitts, pretending to look fussed. "Good day at school?"

"It was great," I said. "Esme, this is Juliet."

"It's so nice to meet you," Juliet was awed, shaking Esme's hand. We were ushered into the kitchen to try some of Esme's cookies.

Jake and Seth arrived home, obviously not taking their time to enjoy the ride. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that their imprints were in the kitchen. Seth bounded into the kitchen, grinning.

"Hey, guys, you're home!" Seth said. I noticed he was wearing a hoodie. That was odd, Seth was always too warm for hoodies.

"Jeez, it's warm today, isn't it?" He asked casually, pulling the hoodie over his head. Of course. That sneaky little wolf boy was attempting to seduce Juliet away from Harper! His t-shirt rode up with the hoodie, having the desired effect. His toned core set Juliet's cheeks ablaze while she pretended not to look.

"Oops," Seth pulled down his t-shirt. "Pardon me! Oh, sweet, cookies!"

Jake came in a moment later, smelling the air. We polished off a good amount of cookies as the rain started to trickle down outside. It was just picking up into a downpour when I led Juliet around the house. We started in the entryway, I showed her the open-plan living room to the left of the door. To the right was the kitchen, where the back door was. Behind the living room, through a set of doors was the movie room complete with blackout curtains, a projector and tons of movies.

Across from the movie room, adjacent to the kitchen was the dining room that we never used. I always sat in the kitchen when Jake, Seth and I ate dinner or breakfast. The laundry room was next to the dining room, with a half-bathroom at the end of the little hall. I let Juliet up the staircase that stood between the movie room and the dining room. That led us down a hallway of doors - Bella's room, Edward's room, a guest room, a bathroom, Emmett and Jasper's "room" and Carlisle's office. Up another set of stairs was my room, Rose and Alice's room that they "shared", Seth's room, Jacob's room, a bathroom and a guest room. In reality, Rose would stay downstairs in Jasper and Emmett's room while Jasper stayed upstairs with Alice. Edward stayed in Bella's room and they used his room for playing music, usually.

Esme and Carlisle's room was in a more private place, down in the basement. It was really nice and homey, it even had its own living room. Up one tiny set of stairs in my hallway led to the attic, which just held boxes of books, family heirlooms and a window seat overlooking the forest. I went up there to read or be alone sometimes. If I opened the window I could hang out on the roof, but that wasn't an approved activity.

Juliet and I hung out in my room until dinner. She fit right in with the Cullen sibling banter, not noticing that they were strategically distracting her so others could hide food or put it on to Jake and Seth's plates.

After dinner, we moved to the theater room. We cosied up on the huge, pillow-like couches. Literally, we sank right into them. Seth and Jake joined us - in a perfectly planned motion, Seth wound up next to Juliet while Jake was on my other side. It was a sandwich with wolf bread and cute girl centre.

Throughout the movie, Juliet was drawn to Seth. I didn't even think she noticed herself leaning into him and promptly falling asleep on his shoulder. His eyes shone as he looked down on her nestled into him. I thought about Jake, who I was cuddled up to, and felt glad that Seth could experience the same thing.

Edward drove Juliet home around nine-thirty. He came home seeming troubled and only shared a look with Alice before insisting he was fine. I went to bed feeling excited.


	5. Rainfall

_Chapter Five - Rainfall_

Over the next two weeks, I texted Juliet nonstop. We always had something to say to each other. She was at our house almost everyday after school - Rose was getting annoyed with the human charade, but she loved Juliet enough to go with it. Seth was texting her an awful lot as well, not to mention Alice. Poor Juliet's phone was probably blowing up all the time.

School was completely awkward. Harper really had it out for Seth. He was slowly on his way to becoming openly hostile at the lunch table. I was trying to be Switzerland during the nuclear lunch warfare, but I was slowly becoming team Seth. Harper no longer deserved the benefit of the doubt. He was trolling for any excuse to point fingers at Seth. Juliet and him weren't doing anything wrong - just building a friendship.

It all came to a crest on Friday. Harper stole Juliet's phone while she wasn't paying attention in math class and guessed her password easily. She was a little… hare-brained at times. Her password was all one number, 3333.

I was in bed, reading a book when Edward came in, looking panicked.

"Juliet ran all the way here," he said gravely. "Something is wrong, but her thoughts are bouncing everywhere. I can't pin anything down."

"Harper," I snapped, throwing my book down. Sure enough, I heard feet pounding the gravel in the driveway. I shot out of bed like a rocket, barging past my father and down into the foyer. Esme had just opened the door and was holding the crying Juliet in her arms.

"Jules!" I cried, running forward. "You're soaked - we gotta get you warm."

Alice was the closest female to Juliet besides me, so the two of us brought her to my bathroom suite. We stripped off her icy soaked clothes and Alice ran her a bath. She made sure to add a calming bath bomb and lots of nice-smelling bubbles. I padded into my closet, looking for a change of clothes. I picked out some neon green fabric shorts and a soft black hoodie.

When I got back into the bathroom, Juliet had calmed down. Alice sat on the counter across from the tub while I sat on the floor, leaning against the bath.

"Harper stole my phone," Juliet took a deep breath. "He went through all my conversations with you guys and even with Lewis! Now he - he's saying I cheated on him. That I cheated w-with Emmett and Edward and Seth and Jake, 'cause I have text conversations with them. But I didn't, Renesmee, you have to b-believe me!"

"Of course we believe you!" Alice and I said in unison.

"Harper is crazy - I'm gonna open up a can of whoopass on that scrawny little fu-" I ranted, covering my mouth before Esme could hear me drop a serious bomb.

"Please tell me you dumped him," Alice leaned forward earnestly.

"I did," Juliet wiped her face. "But he still has my phone and they're going to kill me if I don't get it back."

"Your parents?" Alice pressed. Juliet bit her lip, taking a deep breath. Alice leaned forward more.

"My current foster parents," Juliet sighed finally. This was what Alice was waiting for.

"You're in foster care?" Alice feigned surprise, clapping her hands to her cheeks for effect. I shot her a dark look. There was no need to make Juliet feel like a freak!

"Why didn't you tell us?" I asked softly, leaning against the tub with my cheek pressed to the wall. More tears filled my best friend's eyes.

"People always treat me like a freak when they find out - they think teens who haven't been adopted yet are psychopaths or criminals. That's all I am to them," she told me, blinking. "I was gonna tell you this weekend."

"It's okay," I told her. "You weren't ready, that's fine. For the record, I don't see you any differently than before."

"I'd hug you, but I'm a little damp currently," Juliet said. "And naked."

We settled for holding hands, instead. Alice disappeared after a moment to talk to Carlisle about something.

"How about hot drinks?" I asked. Juliet nodded. I left her to dry off and get changed. Esme was downstairs making hot chocolates while Seth paced back and forth. The second I passed into the kitchen he rounded on me.

"Is she alright?" He asked. I nodded at him. "I'm so gonna kill that Harper kid!"

"You and me both, Seth," I sighed.

Esme looked like she was hiding something.

"Why don't we set you kids up with a movie," Esme said. It was not a question. I collected Juliet and we met the boys in the theater. Seth's sentence dropped off when he saw Juliet. His eyes ran up her long, toned legs, to her thighs, and the cozy sweater that hung down past her hips. He was effectively rendered speechless.

Juliet noticed and a pink blush spread under her freckles. We got into our usual positions and switched on a movie. Over the movie, with my sensitive ears, I picked out the words 'family meeting'. After eye contact with Jake and Seth, I realized they noticed the same thing. Juliet was the only one focused on the movie while we strained to hear what was happening elsewhere.

"We all know Juliet is a foster kid," Alice was saying. "Edward and I did some digging after the first day, but it wasn't until he went to drop her off that we really found some red flags."

"Juliet doesn't like thinking about it," Edward took over. "First red flag. That made it hard to dig until I got close to her foster family or caught her in a vulnerable moment."

"Her situation is bad," Alice chimed in. "Half her foster parents have taken out some form of abuse on her, emotional or physical in some cases. She's a fighter, though."

"Currently she's facing neglect," Edward said. "I hate to put her business out like this, but it's been deemed necessary. She isn't getting the care she needs at home - she's only there so the family looks good to the community. Really, she's barely being fed or clothed."

"In summary, it's shit," Alice sounded frustrated. A sob came from someone, likely Esme.

"Which is why we're presenting a case to the family," Edward's voice chastised Alice slightly.

"Because it's shit," Alice interjected.

"Thank you, Alice," Edward sighed. "We're asking for the Cullens to adopt Juliet."

A few gasps. A chair scraping across hardwood.

"Edward, you have to understand -" Carlisle was saying.

"The Volturi-" Jasper chimed in.

"-just not safe!" Rosalie's voice took over.

"Quiet!" Alice hissed. "This has to be a secret. Hear that, guys? A secret!"

We knew she was directing that at us. It was obvious we could hear. Juliet was the one who had to be kept in the dark. If the majority voted against adopting her, she'd be crushed. My heart was racing, though, and I could hear Seth's from across the room. He seemed to be struggling with a mixture of anger and hope. Juliet casually crawled over to him and sank into his arms, resting her head on his chest. His arms automatically wound around her. I smiled at the cute moment before tuning back in.

"If we decide to adopt Juliet," Carlisle's steady voice silenced the rest. "We have to tell her what we are before making the offer. In the event of the Volturi snooping around, we'll assure them that Juliet has promised to be turned when she reaches full growth."

Rosalie gasped. "Carlisle, no! That's her future you're signing away!"

"What if she and Seth want children one day?" Esme fretted.

"We'll talk to her," Carlisle scolded. "Of course we'll make sure she's well informed. We can delay her transformation, anyways, like we did with Bella's."

"Her future, Carlisle," Rosalie reiterated quietly.

"And what of now, Rosie?" Carlisle spoke softly, to her only. "She needs a family who can love her and care for her. She's already so adjusted here. If the foster system bounces her around again, that will damage her. This is for her future, my dear."

"We'll take a vote, Carlisle?" Edward prompted.

"My vote is a yes, completely," Carlisle said confidently.

Edward was next. "Yes."

Bella. "Yes."

Rosalie. "I'm so sorry, no."

Emmett. "Hell yeah!"

Alice. "Of course, I foresaw it."

Jasper. "…Yes."

Esme. "Of course."

I vote yes! I mentally screamed at my dad. He chuckled.

"There's three resounding yes votes from the movie room," he announced. I caught Seth's eye, then Jacob's. We shared a private smile.

"We'll tell Juliet tomorrow," Carlisle decided. "She's been through quite enough tonight."

"May I confess," The smile was audible in Alice's voice. "I saw her staying with us for an extended time. So, in my spare time, I was ordering things online and shopping at the mall. I subtly found out her likes and dislikes and then I designed her room!"

"Of course," Emmett laughed. "Only Alice."


	6. Coming Clean

_Chapter Six - Coming Clean_

Hope and anxiety filled my chest for the rest of the night. Hope that Juliet could be safe with us, grow up with us and be loved by us. Anxiety because she might hate what we were. Anxiety because if she chose to be a vampire, that would strain her and Seth's relationship beyond belief. Anxiety because if she chose to grow old and die, she would do so while her family stayed frozen in time around her. Anxiety because if Seth told his family he'd imprinted on a soon-to-be vampire, they'd disown him.

But, later as I was laying awake in my bed next to Juliet, I realized it was worth it. She was peacefully sleeping, her face completely relaxed. I let my eyes travel over her, memorizing every detail. I wanted to protect her. Above all, I wanted to be honest with her. I hated living this lie, with the dead parents and the twin sister. That wasn't the Renesmee I wanted her to know. Maybe it was selfish of me to want my best friend adopted by my family. Above all, though, I really just wanted to see her smile.

I drifted off to sleep snuggled up to my best friend, with the scent of vanilla and sunshine washing over me.

I was keyed up all morning after we woke up. My leg kept jittering uncontrollably. Finally, at noon, it was time. Time to introduce Juliet to the real Cullen family.

"Juliet, do you believe in the supernatural?" Carlisle began softly. We were all sitting at the dining room table together.

"What, like fairies and witches?" Juliet scrunched her nose. "Yeah, always have. We can't be the only species out there, right?"

"You're right, although I don't know about the witches and fairies part. Do you believe, in, say, vampires?" He continued with a chuckle.

"Uh, that's a scary thought," Juliet laughed. "But I guess that's possible."

"It is possible," I interjected. "Like, really."

"What are you saying?" Juliet looked around.

"Do you ever wonder why we skipped school on Thursday?" Edward asked gently. "The only sunny day of the week?"

"Hiking…" Juliet said weakly. "Right?"

Carlisle shook his head.

"Why we're so pale, and cold all the time," Edward continued. "Why we seem more graceful, slightly faster, less natural. Our weird, matching eye colors."

"I didn't really… think about it," Juliet cast her eyes to the glass table. "Are you telling me that you're vampires?"

"Yes, Juliet, we are," Carlisle said in his 'doctor-delivering-bad-news' voice.

"Er, are you going to… uh," Juliet gestured to her neck, looking fainter than I'd ever seen her.

"No, of course not, dear!" Esme gasped. "We don't bite family!"

"We don't bite anyone!" Alice chirped. "We actually drink animal blood. We're like vegetarians!"

Juliet puckered her brows. "So there are vampires who bite people?"

We all murmured in assent. Juliet shuddered. "Gross. Yuck. No offense."

"Renesmee is half vampire, half human," Edward said. "And there are some things we need to come clean about."

"Go ahead," Juliet cast a nervous look at me.

"Carlisle is very old, a few centuries, in fact. I'm just over a hundred years old - Carlisle changed me as I was dying. He then changed Esme after an accident and they fell in love. We became a family," Edward told her. "Rosalie was changed as well, and then Emmett. Alice and Jasper found us not long later and joined our family. A few years back, I met Bella when she was a human. We fell in love, and after we got married, Renesmee was born. We changed Bella to save her life, and Renesmee was our rare little occurrence. She grows exceptionally fast, in fact, she's about six years old now. Physically, she's sixteen. When she reaches her full growth, she'll stop aging like us."

"Christ on a cross," Juliet swore. "Nessie, you're just a baby!"

"And Bella's not my twin," my eyes shone. "I'm so sorry for lying to you."

"That's okay!" Jules said hurriedly, grabbing my arms. "No, no, no, don't cry! I still love you, of course!"

"There's more," Edward sighed. "Best to rip off the band-aid."

"Edward, are you sure that's a good idea?" Bella asked, touching his arm. They looked to Juliet.

"I can handle it," Juliet swallowed. "I'm good."

"Seth and Jacob are shape-shifters. They transform into wolves, because they're descended directly from Quileute warriors back in Washington. We affectionately call them werewolves, although that's not an accurate term. When a wolf meets their soulmate, their perfect match, they get something called an imprint, which is a special bond. Jacob imprinted on Nessie when she was born. No, it wasn't romantic love. He has always loved her as whatever she needed. A brother, a best friend, a protector. Jacob is her wolf," Edward said, looking fondly at Jake and I.

"Wait, so," Juliet seemed to be trying to hide disappointment. "Nessie, your dad and mom are Edward and Bella. Carlisle and Esme are like the mom and dad, so they're your grandparents, and Jacob is your soulmate."

"Correct," I patted her hand. "Our family is a little weird, but it works."

"Right…" Juliet said, before looking at Seth. "Have you imprinted?"

The room suddenly was very uncomfortable. Everyone exchanged shifty glances while Seth slowly turned bright red.

"What? What is it?" Juliet demanded. Emmett failed to conceal a laugh.

"I'm not sure how much more she can handle!" Bella protested.

"I did imprint," Seth blurted. "I imprinted on you the second we made eye contact!"

Juliet clapped a hand over her mouth. I could see, though, her eyes squint slightly. I knew Juliet well enough to see she was hiding a smile.

"S-so," she horribly tried to pretend she wasn't giddy. "You're my soulmate, then?"

"If that's okay with you," Seth ducked his head.

"That's definitely okay with me," Juliet gave up trying not to grin.

"Juliet, we really are so sorry for lying, and then unloading all this on you, but there's more you need to know," Carlisle rubbed his temples. We sat uncomfortably while Carlisle explained the vampire laws and the Volturi. Carlisle explained what we had to do to protect Juliet from them, because now she knew our secret.

"The imprint helps," he mused. "Because that makes you a Quileute, at least honorarily. So you're allowed to know about our world. But, the Volturi are finicky and have a problem with our family. They may say the imprint is not good enough and try to use you as a bargaining chip. Your life in exchange for Alice and Edward's services."

"Christ, they sound horrible," Juliet stared at the table. "Why did you choose to tell me all this?"

"We wanted to tell you what the risks were before we offered you a place here," Esme sat down softly, taking Juliet's hands. "We'd like to adopt you. Your treatment in foster care makes us weep, Juliet. We'd love to give you a safe home, a family, a life. It's here if you want it."

My heart pounded painfully. If it beat any harder, I was scared I might lose it.

"I… don't know what to say," Juliet began. My heart dropped. "I mean, are you sure?"

"Heavens, yes," Esme rubbed her hands. "Of course we're sure. Eager Alice over here has been buying things for your bedroom."

"Really? You're serious?" Juliet said, as if she was worried we'd jump out and say 'gotcha!'.

"We're serious as hell, Jules," I leaned closer to her. "It'd be an honor to have you as a Cullen."

"I'd be Juliet Cullen, then?" She whispered, trying it out.

"Yeah," I grinned. Probably not for long, I bet a thousand bucks that in a few years you'll be Juliet Clearwater, I thought with butterflies in my chest. Edward gave me a scolding look.

"If you're a hundred percent sure," Juliet said carefully. "A hundred and ten, then yes."

"Yay!" Alice sprang up. "I want to start building your room!"

Everyone celebrated while Alice shot off like a rocket, presumably to wherever she hid Juliet's new things. We were allowed about ten minutes of celebration before Jasper borrowed Juliet to go over what she needed to know about being a Cullen.


	7. At Home

_Chapter Seven - At Home_

Juliet POV

Jasper led me down the hallway to Carlisle's office. I felt nervous being in there - it seemed like forbidden territory, but Jasper sank easily into Carlisle's desk chair and motioned for me to take the seat across from him.

I perched on the comfy brown chair, trying not to examine anything in the room too closely. Just out of politeness. What did catch my eye were the photos. He had a million photos of Renesmee at different life stages all over his office. Here was a man who loved his granddaughter.

"So," Jasper said smoothly. "We'll contact the foster service and begin the adoption. It won't take long - the Cullens have ways to grease the wheels. Okay, so don't worry about the adoption. Alice has taken the liberty of purchasing your cellphone."

"Cellphone?" I repeated weakly. He pulled a shiny new phone complete with headphones and charger out of the desk drawer, placing it in front of me.

"So to ensure we can contact you easily," he smiled. "I'm the financial head of the family, so I'll explain your bank account. The Cullens are very talented investors. We seem to have a real knack for the stock market."

"Right, future-seeing," I managed a half-smile. "Great."

"The Cullen minors, currently being you, Renesmee and Seth, have a trust fund, so to speak. You have a credit card that's limited to ten thousand dollars a month. The rest of your trust fund is being added to constantly while we shift around our funds. When you turn eighteen, or in Nessie's case when she's physically and mentally an adult, we unlock the account and you have more control and an unlimited card. There's also an emergency family card that leads to our biggest account, in case anything incredibly pricey happens. But that's just a failsafe, so Esme and Carlisle rest easy," Jasper explained. I nodded along with what he was saying. Basically, the Cullens were just loaded.

I was a Cullen now. It would be hard to get used to having access to what I needed for once.

"Harper still has my old phone," I said suddenly. "I wouldn't care, but that phone has pictures on it and phone numbers I need."

"We'll take care of that tonight," Jasper had a malicious glint in his eye. "Anyways, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Oh, I almost forgot. We change our family's cover story everywhere we go. We move around a lot to avoid suspicion. Right now, we have to say you're a foster kid we adopted, but next time we move you can be Esme and Carlisle's biological daughter if you want, or a cousin or niece or something."

"That would be nice," I smiled. After I was dismissed with my new cards and phone, I wandered back up to Nessie's room, passing mine in the process.

"This is my room?" I asked, peering in. The walls were already a purply-lilac color. I remembered Alice asking me about color preferences earlier in the week! The floor was a thick white carpet, across the room was a window that overlooked the forest. Alice and Esme were in there, just finishing the bed. They'd fitted the large bed with white sheets, a pinkish quilt with blue flowers on it, a smaller white blanket over top and pillows with blue or white cases on them.

"Humans get cold awfully easily," Esme fretted, adding one more blue throw blanket to the end of the bed. "If you get cold, just holler."

"Thanks, Esme," I laughed to cover up how touched I was. I was usually cold in my foster houses. The bed was in the far left corner of the room. In the right corner was a glossy white desk, a small lamp and a desk chair. Alice pulled out a laptop from a box and plugged it into the outlet next to the desk.

"You can set up your laptop whenever you're ready," she waved a hand. "Not important."

Esme set to putting up curtains. They were the cool, translucent white curtains that let just some light into your room. Enough to keep it dim but not dark. On the right wall, closest to the door was my closet. Alice had bought a white stand-up closet with doors, and drawers underneath. It stretched from right next to the door to the other right wall.

"It looks beautiful," I said, leaning against the doorframe. "Really, it does."

"I already unpacked your clothes," Alice faced me. "I think I nailed your style, but let me know if I didn't and we can go shopping. Shoes are in the bottom drawer. You and Nessie share a bathroom, your door is right there."

She pointed to the white door on the left wall. I nodded. That wasn't a problem at all.

"I left you a tray of things like lotions and soaps and shampoos on the counter, if it's wrong or there's something else you want we can easily get some. That okay?"

"That's more than perfect," I ran forward and hugged Alice. "Thank you!"

"I think we're all set, then," Esme brushed off her hands. Alice looked around, squinting.

"This room needs more personal stuff - like photos," she decided. "Do you want to go to your foster house and get your things?"

I cringed visibly. "Not yet."

"Take your time, love," Esme patted my cheek easily. I leaned into the affection, smiling. That was something I could get used to, being touched affectionately by someone other than… Harper. I guess going back to school had to happen sooner or later, I had to face him. Right now, though, I was focused on family. My family.

"Juliet, can I talk to you?" Seth said from the doorway. Esme and Alice quietly excused themselves, grinning. Alice leaned into my ear as she passed and told me she was taking Nessie's parents hunting with Jasper. I steeled myself. I was alone for the first time with my soulmate.

"What's up, Seth?" I leaned against my desk, trying to act natural. He ran a hand through his cropped black hair.

"I just, uh, wanted to know if it freaked you out, the whole imprint thing," Seth peeked at me from under his long, dark lashes. I looked into his impossibly deep eyes.

"It doesn't," I told him confidently. "It doesn't."

He nervously took a few steps forward to where I was.

"We don't have to be in a relationship now," he whispered. "We can take our time. Be friends. It's so soon after Harper, anyways. You need time."

I nodded, looking up at him. He was taller than I was, although I wasn't particularly short. I could smell him, he was so close. He smelled like warm laundry, like rain hitting the window while you're inside surrounded by blankets, if that made sense.

"We don't have to… If you don't feel that way, we don't have to be together," Seth said. "I'm whatever you want, whatever you need."

I took a risk. I leaned in, up to him. Our faces were slightly closer, but I wasn't tall enough to fill the gap myself.

"I want to," I whispered. He closed his eyes, looking positively drunk. Before I knew it, his lips where a millimeter away from mine. We lingered there, not in a hurry to kiss, not in a hurry to pull away. Just existing, close to one another. His lips softly brushed against mine once before he pulled back.

"Take all the time you need," Seth smiled. I nodded, in a daze. His presence was intoxicating. Seth excused himself to join Jake for some back business. The first thing I did was run straight to Nessie's room and throw myself onto the bed.

"You're chipper," she didn't look up from her book, perched on top of her desk cross-legged.

"You're wearing glasses," I pointed out, pulling one of her pillows into my arms and looking up at her.

"They don't have lenses," she explained. "Carlisle gave them to me. They make me feel smart."

"You are smart," I looked at the book she was reading. It was something medical.

"I want to be a midwife, I think," Nessie tossed down the book. "Or work in pediatrics. That's neither here nor there, dearest sister. What happened with Seth?"

"He's so perfect," I rolled onto my stomach, wrapping a loose lock of my hair around my finger. "We're going to take our time."

"That's smart," Nessie said thoughtfully. "Jake and I are taking our sweet, sweet time…"

"Just kiss him," I looked at her. "Why not?"

She sighed, resting her head against the wall. "I would, but I don't know if he has feelings like that for me yet. I'm basically a baby in their eyes."

"But you have feelings for him."

"Yes."

"So kiss him!"

She laughed. "No."

We bantered back and forth until dinner. I had the shocking realization that if my foster parents had tried to contact me - they would have called. Called my phone, which coincidentally was wherever Harper had chosen to hide it.

"Nessie, we have to get my old phone back tonight," I grabbed her hand. She nodded and led me downstairs to where Emmett and Rose were.

"Em, Rose, we need a favor," Nessie said. They both stood up, ready.


	8. Adrenaline

_Author's Note -_ Hey, readers! I think it's time to talk a little bit about Cliff's Edge. The first volume of the (hopefully) trilogy is Cliff's Edge. It's separated into three parts. Part One, Beginnings. Part Two, Changes. Part Three, Flight. This chapter is the end of Part One. I'm really excited for Changes and all the surprises it will bring for you guys. Beginnings was really just to set up the story, now is where it gets good. Can't wait to hear your feedback and see where this takes us. XO, Eli.

 _Chapter Eight - Adrenaline_

 _Juliet POV_

"Harper took Jules' phone, we think it's in his house. Can we get it?" Renesmee gave them her best puppydog eyes.

"Hell to the yeah we can," Emmett grinned evilly. Rosalie paced back and forth, fuming.

"That evil little boy - I'm going to have a word with his mother! That's what I'm going to do," Rosalie snarled.

"He's got a few of my things, things I can't trust in my foster homes," I said. "He keeps them in a wooden box under his desk."

"Everyone get suited up!" Emmett suddenly was a commander. "Ness, you are Wolf 1. Jules, you're Wolf 2. Go find tight, dark clothing. Like Catwoman. Rosalie, put on your most innocent looking outfit. You're Flying Angel. As for me, I'm Papa Bear. Meet back here in ten minutes - damn, we're lucky your parents are out hunting!"

We dissipated, thundering up the stairs with laughter. In my room, I checked out what Alice had stocked my closet with.

After sifting through some stuff, I put on a pair of tight black combat boots, black knee-high socks, a black skirt with built-in shorts, and a black tank top tucked in. I wound my hair into a high ponytail, leaving the side bangs to frame my face. In the bathroom, I met up with Nessie. She was wearing knee-high lace up black boots, black overalls and a black bandeau under the overalls. Her hair was in a similar ponytail to mine. She also wore a thick black leather cuff on her wrist.

We smudged dark eyeliner around our eyes and on our cheeks. It was go-time. We had no idea what Emmett's plan was, but it was bound to be illegal and exciting.

Downstairs, Emmett was wearing tight black pants and a black t-shirt. He was holding a box and standing next to Rosalie, who wore a light pink tunic over grey tights and low-cut brown boots.

"In this box is microphones and earpieces," Emmett said. "Like walkie-talkies, a gift from Jasper. Everyone take a set and put them in."

We each got a set. The earpiece was like a headphone earbud, but wireless. The microphones we attached somewhere on our chests. They were sensitive to pick up a whisper, but not too much background noise or static. We tested them out and told Esme we'd be back later.

She gave us a slightly disapproving look as we left. She knew we were up to something. But she trusted Rose to keep us in line.

We took the black Mercedes and I gave Rosalie directions to Harper's house. We pulled up on the suburban block, rolling past the identical blue and white houses until we got to Harper's, 1022.

I motioned for silence and directed Renesmee and Emmett to the back of the house. We crouched under the kitchen window and saw Mrs. Moran sitting at the table, writing something down. A knock rang through the house. We waited for Mrs. Moran to sit Rosalie down and start the conversation.

"Has your son, Harper been acting oddly this weekend, or recently?" Rosalie feigned the perfect concern.

Emmett hoisted me onto his back when I pointed out Harper's bedroom window. We leapt up to the roof alongside it. Nessie expertly writhed up the side of the house to join us. I slunk forward and peered through his window.

Harper's room was exactly like it had been - bed in the middle of the room, desk against the wall opposite the bed, closet next to the bed and door in the corner. Everything in the same navy blue and black color scheme.

Harper was curled up on the bed, holding something. I squinted hard. It was my phone! It looked like he was going through it again. We waited, listening to Rosalie's conversation.

"We believe he was having relationship problems," Harper's mom sighed. "He seemed so angry."

"Flying Angel, this is Papa Bear," Emmett said lowly into the microphone. "Target sighted, the phone is located. Here's your signal, get him outta there."

A few moments later, Mrs. Moran's voice echoed from downstairs. "Harper! Come down here please!"

Harper rolled his eyes, tossing the phone onto his bedside table and walking out of the room. Emmett waited three heartbeats before springing into action.

"Wolf 1 and 2, locate the goods while I keep watch. Ready? Now!" Emmett forced the window open. Renesmee sprang through lithely. I followed a little less gracefully. Emmett was last, moving out to the hallway at the top of the stairs to keep watch.

"I have your phone," Renesmee grabbed the phone. I went to the desk, leaning into it as I reached for my box of things. The motion jostled the mouse on Harper's desktop computer. The screen flashed to life, showing an open IM thread between Harper and Lewis. I couldn't help it, I scanned it.

Harper: She's a dirty whore, that's what she is.

Lewis: Dude, I promise she never cheated on you.

Harper: Ever since that weird family got to town she's been different. She was the only one who cared about me and now she's screwing around with some guy who doesn't even care about her.

Lewis: U know that's not true.

Harper: I don't care she's just a slut and a freak. I'm burning her stuff. It probably all has aids.

Lewis: Wtf, man.

Lewis: Harper? Just give it back to her at school. Be mature.

Lewis: Dude?

I glared at the chat log. I bent down to grab my box, but a new IM popped up. I recognized the user's handle immediately.

Harper: You don't like me, I don't like you. But I know u hate Juliet more.

Amber: And ur messaging me y?

Harper: Juliet is a dirty whore. I found texts w. her and half the Cullen family on her phone. And nudes. She's trying 2 screw the entire family even the dad.

Amber: Wtf, aren't u 2 dating?

Harper: Not anymore. She's a cheater and a skank.

Amber: Perfect. Thx for telling me. Can U send screenshots?

Harper: Will do tonight.

Amber: I'm waiting…

I felt like I couldn't breathe. Amber always picked on me, ever since I got here. I had a feeling it was about to get worse. A lot worse.

"Wolf 2, what's taking so long?" Emmett hissed. "We're running out of time!"

I bent down and grabbed the box, switching off the screen. And then we heard footsteps. In a flash, Emmett grabbed me and Renesmee. He zipped faster than a cheetah out into the hall, across from Harper's room and into the linen closet.

"Why didn't we go out the window?" Nessie hissed, kicking Emmett.

"Too small for the three of us to have gotten out in time," Emmett breathed back. "Stay still."

I clutched the box. I should have left it - now he'd know something was up. There were things in this box, however, that I couldn't stand to lose. If he made good on his threat of burning them, I'd be crushed.

"Harper Moran!" Mrs. Moran stomped into the room. "I am shocked. You tell me the truth this instant. Did you take that girl's phone?"

"You don't understand," Harper said. "She was cheating on me, Mom!"

"Her older sister had to come ask for it!" Mrs. Moran screamed. "Where is it! Where is it?!"

"I- it's in my locker at school," Harper protested. "I was gonna give it back! I just had to know, Mom."

"You're grounded," Mrs. Moran shook her head. "Just wait until your father comes home. No going out with Lewis or any of your little friends for two weeks! You're lucky I don't take your internet off that computer!"

"You don't even know how," Harper muttered.

Mrs. Moran's footsteps indicated that she'd gone back downstairs.

"We have to get out of here," Renesmee whispered. I thought hard.

"There's a window in the bathroom we can climb through if we're silent," I said. We shared a grim look in the darkness.

"Shit!" Nessie said suddenly. "He noticed. I can hear him tearing through his room looking for the stuff."

"We have to move, now," Emmett said, sliding opened the closet door. They followed me into the bathroom.

Renesmee POV

"Juliet goes first," Emmett said. "No offense, you're the highest risk here."

"Right, out goes the human," She mumbled, stepping into the shower. It was one of those old showers that doubled as a bath tub. There was a window, for some reason, on the wall next to the bath. I wrinkled my nose at a little mold that had formed on the wood from the shower water.

There was no time to be disgusted. Juliet cracked the window open and let Emmett boost her through. He struggled a bit getting through, but managed to wriggle all the way. I was just turning toward them, standing in the tub when the light flicked on.

I froze. There was no shout of surprise, no angry questions. Slowly, I turned back towards the door. The curtain was concealing me just enough. Harper didn't know there was someone standing behind his shower curtain. He stood over the sink, breathing heavily. I watched as he washed his face, his skin red and blotchy and his black hair sticking out in all directions.

He straightened, looking at himself in the mirror. My heart stopped when he turned to face me. He stared at the curtain for a moment before turning away and shutting off the light. Once I heard his bed creak, I launched myself out the window.

Emmett caught me deftly. He leapt down from the roof and into the backyard. Praying that no one could see us, we sprinted across the yard and into the Mercedes parked on the street.

"Rosalie, floor it!" Emmett yelled. The car launched forward instantly, flying down the long road.

Juliet didn't stop clutching the box while we laughed with exhilaration. She didn't let go until we were back in the house, flopped down on the couch.

"My dad is gonna kill us," I laughed, throwing my arm over my face.

"Correction, I'm going to kill Emmett," Edward strode out from the kitchen. I shot up.

"Dad! You're home early," I yelped.

"We cut our trip short when Alice saw the police come to our door," Edward explained. "That could have gone very bad, very quickly if that boy had seen you! I'm disappointed in you, I thought you knew better. What was so important that you had to commit a B and E?"

"It was my fault," Juliet stood up. "If anyone gets in trouble it should be me. Harper had a box of my personal things and my phone. He was going to destroy them."

Edward softened visibly. "I understand. Emmett was stupid to bring you girls along and put you in danger like that."

"I'm glad he did," Juliet said. "I got some information when Harper's computer turned on."

"Like what?" I curled back up on the couch now that we weren't in trouble. Juliet bit her lip and sat down as well.

"It's my problem, I'm not going to involve you," she looked at me. I folded my arms across my chest.

"We just broke into a house together, I think it's pretty clear we're in this together," I pointed out to her, lifting a brow.

"Juliet, please forgive my intrusion but I think you should tell her," Edward bent and softly spoke to Juliet. She nodded after a long pause.

"I saw Harper talking about me to Lewis when his computer lit up," she explained to me. "He was saying that I'm a dirty cheating whore and that he wanted to burn my stuff because I have sexually transmitted diseases. And if that wasn't bad enough, an instant message thread popped up from Amber. He went to her and told her that he had found texts and dirty pictures on my phone between me and the whole Cullen family… Even Carlisle. Amber's bullying is about to get worse."

A fire started in my stomach and spread to my throat. I realized the snarling sound I heard was me.

"I'm going to snap both of their scrawny little necks," I growled, sinking my nails into the couch.

"Holy, Ness, you look like a vampire," Juliet paled. I snapped back to reality, blushing hard. I'd obviously just scared her.

"Sorry."

"It's fine," she chuckled. "That was actually kinda cool."

"You're so much like Bella," Edward said incredulously, rubbing his forehead. "You see something that should terrify you and your reaction is 'that's so cool'?"

"Nessie's never going to hurt me," Juliet lifted her chin confidently. I smiled at her.

"Never," I patted her hand. Jake may have been my soulmate, and Seth may have been hers, but in a way we were each other's soulmates.

"You are such a Cullen," Edward laughed. "Now excuse me while I go kill my brother."

Juliet beamed. This is who she was and where she belonged. She was such a Cullen.


	9. Sunlight

**_PART TWO - CHANGES_**

 _To Marissa, with all my love. Even on your dark days, you shine._

 _Love until we burn up, fire_  
 _Do whatever gets you seen_  
 _Kiss me with_ adventure  
Til _I forget my name_  
 _Chills run down my back, I'mma flirt with that_  
 _Get a little closer_  
 _Get a little closer_  
 ** _\- Cliff's Edge, Hayley Kiyoko_**

 _Chapter Nine - Sunlight_

 _Juliet's POV_

I spent Saturday night in my new bed for the first time. The bedding was obviously expensive - which I felt guilty for. But damn, it felt good to sleep under three hundred dollars. The gushing of the nearby river and the rain steadily pounding the roof lulled me into sleep.

In the morning, I spent ten minutes in front of the mirror making sure I didn't look like a zombie before heading downstairs. Everyone was at the table or milling about.

"Morning," I stretched a bit, revealing my tummy. I was wearing a grey long-sleeved shirt and black shorts. Seth's fork hit the marble countertop with a clatter. Face burning, I sat next to the laughing Nessie while Jacob slammed Seth's back.

"Morning, dear," Esme placed a bowl of chopped, fresh fruit in front of me. My stomach growled in appreciation and I dug in.

"Did you sleep well in a house full of vampires?" Nessie nudged me.

"Mmm," I said through a mouthful of banana and cherry before swallowing. "I've done it before."

"Yeah, but you didn't know," Jake teased, looking up at me. I flicked a blueberry at him.

"Wasn't it weird going to sleep knowing that nobody else was besides us?" Seth asked with a grin.

"You know, that leaves plenty of room for other activities," Jake said impishly. "Extracurriculars."

"What do you say we give up sleeping too, Jakey?" Seth wiggled his eyebrows.

"Oh, Seth!" Jake feigned a high-pitched voice.

"BOYS!" Esme scolded. "Not at the table!"

Renesmee shoved kiwi into her mouth to cover up the laugh.

"Oh, Juliet, you're up," Jasper walked into the room. "I've contacted your foster family. They're being awfully difficult about the adoption, but our lawyer is having words with them. You should be in our custody, legally, by Tuesday."

"Jasper, thank you so much!" I leapt up without thinking, wrapping my arms around him. After a slight pause, he hugged me back tightly.

"I'd watch out," he warned me when we let go. "Alice is likely to throw some sort of initiation party."

"You betcha!" Alice yelled from upstairs. Jasper just shook his head and exited the room.

"Pretty soon, you're gonna have an ID that says Juliet Cullen," Seth grinned. The four of us spent the day together, going for walks down to the creek or hanging out in Nessie's room.

"Do you want to go to the waterfall?" Nessie asked as she painted my nails black.

"The one in the forest behind the house?" I asked. The sun was shining, probably the last hot day of September. Nessie nodded, spreading the polish with extreme precision.

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Seth fretted from his perch on the bed. "The rocks can be really slippery."

"She's not a China doll," Nessie protested in my defense. I smiled at her, admiring my new nail color.

"She's right, Seth," Jake said. He put down the photo he was looking at.

"I'm down to go swimming," I said. "Do you think Alice put a swimsuit in my closet?"

"She's Alice, there's probably ten," Nessie snorted. I got up and padded barefoot down the white carpeted hallway to my room. Sure enough, there was a few swimsuits in my underwear drawer.

I chose a cute powder blue bikini top, slipped on some ice blue denim shorts and threw a white muscle tee over my swimsuit. For shoes, I just shoved my feet into a pair of white slip-on sneakers.

We met up at the bottom of the stairs and told Esme we were going to the waterfall. As we ran through the tall, now sun-dried grass, Nessie spread her arms and laughed. It felt good to fit in with the family. Being a human barely hindered me.

At the creek, the water bubbled down the smoothed stones. We tossed our shoes onto the bank and stepped in, walking upstream. The water was barely ankle deep here. The chill of the water felt so good, the slick smooth stones under my feet provided a natural massage. We walked in a line together, laughing and trading jokes, but mostly just getting to know each other. Well, getting to know me. They already knew each other.

The sun filtered through the canopy high above us, creating dappled patterns all over the grass and rocks. Eventually the stream opened up into a river. Up the river, before us, I could see a huge rock formation.

The river was too deep for me to wade in, along with Nessie. Jake and Seth put us up on their shoulders and waded up against the water. I threw my arms open wide, tossing my head back and letting the sun make patterns on my face. The skin-to-skin contact I had with Seth coursed through me like a bubbly soda.

"Here's where we start climbing," Jake raised his voice over the river. A waterfall poured in front of us. I thought we had reached our destination, but Seth pointed upwards. The tall rock formation had a piece on the side that jutted out. That formed a sort of natural pool. A smaller waterfall filtered into it from higher above. The very edge of the pool fed into a miniature river that wound across the rock formation and made the waterfall we were standing under.

"That's so cool!" I yelled over the water. Seth helped me on to the rocks and kept a hawk's watch on me as we scrambled up the slippery edges. At the top, I sat on the edge of the pool with my feet dangling down. A hole in the canopy let a puddle of sunlight turn part of the pool golden-green, while the rest was doused in cool shade.

Through a gap in the trees, I could see the house sitting on the hill over the creek. It really was beautiful and now it was my home. After a moment of reflection, I turned around to see that Seth and Jake had taken off their shirts. My eyes almost fell out of my head at Seth's tanned, toned body. He was staring at me, too, almost self-consciously. I got up and took off my shirt, leaving it on the side of the pool.

The water was cool, but the sun had heated the rocks enough that it was nice. Jake and Seth wrestled under the waterfall. Nessie grabbed my hand and we half-waded half-swam over to the pouring water. We stood under it and let the torrents of crystal clear water beat the muscles of our backs. This was better than any shower I'd ever taken.

Seth waded over and carefully, hesitantly put his hands on my waist. After a moment, I tucked myself into his torso and rested my head in the crook of his neck while the water covered us. Our hearts beat together as we stood, just silently embracing in the water. Nessie and Jake gave us some space, sitting with their feet in the water.

We all horsed around for an hour before our stomachs rumbled. It was getting close to dinner time, and the sun was starting to set. It left a chill over everything.

"Juliet's gonna get cold," Nessie pointed out. I was the only vulnerable one - damn supernatural genetics let the others remain as human furnaces.

"Here, get on my back," Seth bent down. I hopped up, clinging to him and leeching his warmth on the walk back home.

"You're just in time for dinner," Esme called as we entered the house, damp from the water. "Go get changed and come down to the kitchen!"

We went to our bedrooms, careful not to drip all over Esme's carpets. I threw on leggings and a grey hoodie. Nessie came out of her room in black shorts and an oversized "Forks High Spartans" t-shirt.

"It's the high school where my parents met," Nessie explained. "This was my dad's gym shirt. He kept it for my mom, but I started wearing it when I was physically three."

"That's so cute," I smiled sadly. It made me think about my dad. That's something I probably did when I was actually three.

At dinner, we were almost too exhausted to make conversation. Emmett and Edward collected my things from the foster house while we were at the river. My few personal effects were in a cardboard box in my bedroom, the clothes in a drawer of my wardrobe. The boys had been sent to get my stuff because my fosters were turning hostile in their correspondence with my family and Carlisle wasn't comfortable with me being near them. They didn't want me leaving - I got them government benefits and they looked good to the community with me around. Screw them.

I fell into bed that night with a heavy sigh. The day had been good - too good. In the back of my mind, I knew tomorrow would be hell. Amber's bullying would reach a new high. One thought that persisted was that Amber had asked for screenshots of me cheating on Harper, and Harper had promised to supply them.

I hadn't cheated - so what screenshots were Harper planning on sending Amber? I knew he was skilled at Photoshop… Was he planning on framing me that way? My stomach turned in knots as I tried to go to sleep. Eventually the physical tiredness took over and I slept restlessly.


	10. Whispers

_Chapter Ten - Whispers_

Juliet's POV

I poked at my breakfast the next morning. Everyone else was eating normally besides me. Esme noticed, coming to wrap an arm around my shoulders.

"Are you nervous about today, sweetheart?" Esme squeezed me. I nodded, pushing the fork into my eggs and letting them fall back onto the plate.

"Go see Alice, she'll whip up something that'll make you feel real special," she winked, walking back to the sink. I hopped off my chair and smiled at her. As I suspected, Alice was already in my room rooting through my closet.

"Take these," Alice tossed several items onto my bed. "Get changed, I'll do your makeup in a sec!"

She bustled out again, probably looking for someone else to dress up. I wandered over to the bed and got dressed.

Alice had outfitted me in casually distressed skinny jeans, a black spaghetti strap, rather tight fitting tank top, a tight fitted women's leather jacket with a hood, complete with lace-up, studded platform heels.

The heels weren't that high but I was not a girl who wore heels.

"Alice!" I whined, loping into the bathroom where she was waiting with a kit of makeup. "Really?!"

"Heels make every girl feel special and confident," she snapped playfully before patting the counter. "Sit up, I'm doing your makeup."

After brushing out my chest-length hair and letting it hang loose, Alice went with a simple sweep of eyeliner and mascara. She gave me a nice nude lip color that was barely detectable, swept a little highlighter on my cheekbones and deemed me presentable. I walked downstairs feeling a little more assured than I had when I walked up.

"My favorite part of the morning," Renesmee chirped, joining me by the front door. "Where we decide who to ride with."

"I don't care, so long as I'm next to you," I took her hand. "I'm scared, Nessie."

She squeezed mine affectionately. "If anyone has the balls to give you trouble - we'll give them hell."

Renesmee POV

We rode with Alice and Jasper in the BMW. Juliet's leg was shaking the entire way to school. I mentally fumed - Juliet had a hard enough life, why were people so intent on making it worse? Harper felt victimized by her. Amber felt, what, threatened? It was no secret that Juliet was attractive.

At school, people stared. We made our way quickly to the socials room, flanked by Seth and Jake. Seth was hovering protectively over Juliet the whole time. I shut out the whispers as best as possible, but some got through. Apparently Amber had been busy over the weekend, spreading falsified text messages and images to everyone in school.

"Looking good, Juliet," some random kid walked up to us, despite the fire in our eyes. "Although, I like you better with your clothes off."

"Go to hell, you creep," I snapped, stepping forward. Jake grabbed my arm, trying to pull me away. "Anything that Amber slut spread around is fake. You're an idiot for believing it!"

"Pictures don't lie," the boy wiggled his eyebrows, sauntering down the hallway. Juliet's face burned, tears threatening to come to the surface. I grabbed her hand and led our group into the Socials room as the late bell rang.

We took our seats and I clenched my jaw as people whispered. Didn't they have anything better to do than gossip? I glared at several people who dared to raise their voice higher than a whisper. Juliet barely focused through the entire class. Seth sat silently fuming behind us, threatening to explode at any moment.

I shared an uneasy look with Jake. Something bad was going to happen - we hadn't seen Amber yet today and I was terrified about what would happen in Juliet's math class next period. Alice was in that class so I pulled out my phone under the desk and texted her.

Me: Alice, emergency. Jules is alone in math with HARPER! Need u to sit with her and use the scary eyes. Can u?

Alice: Of course, was going to anyway now that we're sisters! Nobody's messing with our girl.

Me: You rock!

Alice: I know.

I rested easier knowing that Juliet would be under the protection of a scary little vampire next class. When we walked her to math, I reluctantly hugged her goodbye. Seth, however, was a wreck all through English.

At lunch, Juliet sat with us and shared what had happened in math. She sat next to Alice, did her work and tried not to meet Harper's angry eyes. During lunch, he kept turning around to give us violent glares. Unfortunately, he was dealing with vampires. Comfortable in the knowledge that any one of us could snap his neck in a second, we sat and only met his eyes with coldness.

"It's best to approach this situation as cavalierly as possible," Edward said softly. "Renesmee, Seth, as much as I love you, the two of you need to control your emotions at school. We have to act like this doesn't bother us."

"But it does, and for good reason!" Seth hissed, gripping the table. He couldn't even reach out and touch Juliet - they decided any physical affection at school was going to add gas to an already burning fire.

"Giving an emotional reaction will only give them a reason to continue," Rosalie pointed out. "I hate to admit it but Edward is right."

I shook my head. I knew they were right, but all I wanted to do was kill Amber and kill Harper.

In Art class, Harper had the good sense not to sit with us. We talked and chatted just like we had back at the waterfall. After a while, we found ourselves laughing. It felt so good to laugh the tension away.

The drama teacher wanted to try some "meditation" exercise. We sat together, cross legged on the floor and tried not to laugh. Every time a giggle would slip out, the drama teacher would open one eye and glare at us. We only laughed more. That was better than any silent reflection.

Juliet POV

I'd survived one day as public enemy number one. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all. In any case, I had the right people around me.

"Juliet, can we talk?" Seth knocked on the open door. I nodded, beckoning him in.

"What's up?" I asked as he joined me in the room, sitting on the floor against the bed.

"I just thought we could talk privately, get to know each other better," he smiled nervously. "Is that weird?"

"Not weird," I grinned. Over the last little while, we'd already talked a lot, asking each other questions. Any excuse, though, to spend time next to him was good enough for me.

"Can I ask what your family was like?" Seth asked. My stomach turned. Oh, this was why he wanted to talk. That was why he was so nervous. I sighed inwardly. I'd guessed we'd have to have this conversation eventually, I just didn't expect it to be so soon.

"I think I ought to tell Nessie, first," I told him. "Is that alright?"

"Whenever you're ready," he leaned over and pressed his lips to my temple. "I'll be ready to listen."

Seth's cell phone chimed from his pocket. He pulled it out quickly but his face fell when he looked at the caller ID.

"Hi, Mom," Seth said into the phone. "I'm fine, how are you? Mom, calm down. What?!"

I peered at him, eyes wide. His face took on horror, and then anger.

"SHE DID WHAT?!" Seth bellowed. "I'll kill her! Mom, I'll kill her! Listen, Mom, call Karen. Have her take care of you, can you do that for me? Okay. I'll call you later. I love you, too. Bye."

"Seth, what's going on?" I asked, wrapping my arms around my knees.

"My sister, Leah, is angry that I imprinted on what we call a 'vamp chick'," Seth rolled his eyes. "So she went to Charlie and told him all about vampires. He already knew about werewolves, but now he knows that his daughter, son-in-law and their family are a bunch of the undead!"

"Isn't he getting married to Sue? Won't that make him a council member?" I asked, scrunching my nose. Supernatural politics were so hard to follow.

"That's the charming part," Seth gritted his teeth. "Leah knew that Charlie would choose Bella. She made it out that my mom would make him choose, vampires or werewolves. The engagement is off."

"No!" I gasped. Even a human could figure out what that meant. Charlie's marriage to Sue was the only thing protecting him from the Volturi - without that tie to the Quileutes and their legends, Charlie was left vulnerable. We all knew they had spies in Forks, it was painfully obvious. If they found out… Charlie would be killed.


	11. Eternity

_Juliet POV_

"Go tell Carlisle!" I yelled, shoving Seth with all my might. This was Bella's dad! He was family, and although I had never met him, I protected family. "Seth! GO!"

Seth barrelled out of my room. I ran straight to Nessie's and told her what was happening. When I was finished, out of breath, she flopped onto her bed.

"Ness?" I sat on her yellow comforter, resting my hand on her leg. She stared numbly at the wall.

"Can you sleep in here with me tonight, Jules?" She asked, sounding suddenly like the six-year old she was. I nodded and climbed into bed with her. We lay in silence for an hour, listening to the family's voices downstairs. I just held my best friend as she digested what we were faced with.

"Juliet, can I ask you something?" Nessie asked, staring at the wall.

"Yeah."

"Are you gonna grow old and die with Seth?" She sounded on the verge of tears. My heart shattered.

"I can't have both," my own eyes watered up. "Can I?"

"Seth or immortality," she answered. "How can you choose?"

I had to swallow before speaking. "I can't. It isn't possible for a vampire and a werewolf to be together. I feel obligated to choose my imprint. I feel horrible knowing if I do, we'll both die."

"If you chose vampire, you could stay friends," she whispered. "And then you'd both have eternity. But what's eternity if you can't spend it with your love? That's no way to live, pining over what used to be. I can't ask that of you."

I thought about that for a while. I was offered immortality, and eternity. Would dying be easier if I knew it was my choice?

"I look at every sunset," I finally spoke. "I appreciate every single sunset because I know, one day, there's not going to be any more sunsets. Not for me, anyways. My time will have run out and I'll see that day end for the last time. I just hope that… I make the right choice. I hope that on that last sunset, I know it was worth it. I hope I know, in my heart, that I did what I needed to do."

"I hope so, too," Nessie squeezed me tighter. We drifted eventually into sleep, comforted by each other. I held her close, uncertain of the future. Uncertain of myself, even. I was always a girl who knew myself. My choices were made with confidence. I always did what I needed to do in order to get to the next sunset - living house to house like I did, you had to be prepared. Suddenly, I was supposed to be safe. I'd been given the world, but this was uncharted territory. Love or immortality? Or, to further complicate the situation and read past the words, Seth or Renesmee? Werewolves or vampires? Would I, like Charlie, choose? Sacrifice love for family? Give up the steady beating of my heart for the laughter of my friends?

How could anyone begin to choose?

Renesmee POV

The family was tense in the morning. It was so thick, filling the air like the congealed blood that filled your mouth when you didn't stop playing with your food and just drink it.

I sat in stiff silence as the family went over and over what to do, looking at the situation from every possible angle. The problem was a diamond, light bouncing off a million facets. Voices, half baked strategies filled the room for hours but I didn't listen because they all ended the same way.

Charlie was going to die or become one of us.

That morning, Bella crept so gently into my room.

"Renesmee, honey, Juliet," she had sat on the bed, using her most delicate voice. "We're going to keep you home from school today, okay?"

Okay, Mom. Whatever. I couldn't stop thinking about Grandpa. When was the last time I'd hugged him? Told him I loved him? My memory was supposed to be almost perfect. I could even remember the day I was born and a little before that. Why couldn't I remember this inconsequential detail of my life?

It didn't matter, anyways. Grandpa knew I loved him. What point was there to pinpointing the last time and replaying a million times in my head, thinking of how I could do it better if I'd known? That wouldn't change anything.

"Kids, could you lighten up a little?" Edward looked at us from across the living room. Juliet and I were sitting together in silence, deep in our inner monologues. Genuine concern was etched across his face. He was probably used to his ever-optimistic daughter.

It was pretty hard to be optimistic at this point. Unless…

"Hang on," I stood up. "Why are we trying to avoid making Grandpa a vampire?"

"It's no life to live, Renesmee," Edward said. "We couldn't expect you to understand, when this is all you know."

"No offense, Daddy, but shut up," I put my hands on my hips. "Listen to yourselves! You're trying to keep Grandpa alive, for what? To never see Mom again? To constantly live in question of why Mom suddenly changed and abandoned him? To leave him alone until he dies?! There's more to life than fishing! And I'm sorry that you all seem to feel as though you were dealt a _terrible_ hand when you became vampires, except Mom, who has the most sense out of all of you! You have eternity with the ones you love! That's more than others can say. You have forever to watch the world change, to study, make discoveries! To experience a new sunset every single day! Don't you think Charlie would take that? Take health and knowledge and more importantly a life without secrets from Mom? Mom is his life, in case you hadn't noticed, and it's awfully unfair that you'd like to even _consider_ withholding immortality from him! You're all so annoying! _'Oh, I'm a vampire, I have no soul and I'm destined to sit in my stupid shiny Volvo and brood while listening to old music all the time, blah blah!'_ , that's so stupid!"

Tears were pouring down my face now as I yelled at them. "News flash, people. You act like vampires are soulless demons, but I live with eight who I happen to like very much!"

The room was completely silent as the whole family stared at me in shock. Emmett looked like he was trying not to laugh, Esme looked like she was trying not to cry. My dad was worse, though. I couldn't meet his horrified eyes. Instead I looked to my mom. She looked… proud.

My mom's proud look inspired me to lift my chin and gaze evenly around the room, tears no longer flowing. I meant what I said and I said what I meant. If anyone had a problem I'd be willing to take them on.

"Renesmee," my dad broke the silence. "I cannot… begin to tell you how sorry I am that… you think we feel that way. I know that in the past it hasn't been easy to love what we are. Just… Thank you, my Renesmee. Perhaps we should be looking at this from another angle."

"Amazing," Carlisle breathed, looking at me with renewed hope.

"That was a smackdown worthy of Mom," Emmett finally laughed out loud. "She's becoming a real Esme."

As usual, Emmett's comments broke the tension and made everyone laugh. My parents came over and hugged me tight.

"I found out I had a soul the day I saw you for the first time," Edward whispered into my hair. "How could something evil create something so beautiful?"

"I love you, Dad," I said. "You too, Momma."

"It's all going to be okay, Bella," Carlisle said when we broke apart. "Instead of waiting for the Volturi to strike, why don't we bring Charlie here and give him a choice?"

"We could go on vacation to Forks," Bella suggested. "Stay at the old house for a bit… Obviously make sure nobody sees Renesmee. No offense, baby, but I'm too young to have a teenage daughter."

Esme snorted. "You're telling me, Bella. I have seven."

Juliet smiled to herself. She'd obviously noticed that Esme automatically counted her.

"School just started, can we really pull the girls out?" Edward folded his arms. "We can't go swanning out of state at any old time."

"Oh, please," Bella disagreed. "The girls live with incredibly old vampires who know a lot more than their teachers. If they're tutored, they won't miss anything."

"It'll also give us a nice break from Amber," I suggested. Juliet stared out the window, chewing on her lip.

"It's settled, then," Carlisle clapped his hands together. "We're going to Forks to see Charlie."


	12. Wolf

_Chapter Twelve - Wolf_

 _Renesmee POV_

"The adoption will be finalized tonight, thanks to a dear friend," Jasper shared a look with Bella. "We should leave tomorrow. It's better sooner rather than later."

So the plan was finalized. The rest of the day was to be spent doing our own activities. The rain thundered relentlessly outside, preventing us from visiting the river. Instead, I regaled Juliet with stories from the house in Forks. Then, Jake and Seth told her stories from the pack.

"I just realized something," Juliet rested her chin on her palms after they finished a particularly good story about Paul. "I've never seen you two in your wolf forms."

"It's really a sight to behold," Seth puffed out his chest. "You wanna see?"

"It's raining," Juliet frowned out the window.

"Rain doesn't bother us!" Seth claimed. "Jake lived as a wolf for ages, 'cause he was mad at Bella. It was raining, and snowing like all the time."

"Dude," Jake shook his head. "Stop."

Juliet looked at me. I hadn't really told her much about my mom and Jake… I didn't even know that much myself. I didn't want to know. Really, when the guy you're destined to be with thought he was in love with your mom, it makes for some uncomfortable situations.

Juliet POV

"Er, let's go outside," Seth bolted down the stairs, leaving the awkwardness behind. We gathered together and ran down the stairs after him.

Jake and Seth started stripping off their clothes as we ran, leaving them behind. They were just in boxers when they finally burst through the front doors. Rosalie was sitting on the couch in the front room, holding a magazine. When we entered the room, breathless from laughter, she just stared at us.

"Teenagers," she mumbled, going back to her magazine. We only laughed harder, running barefoot into the yard after the boys. They turned to make sure we were watching before leaping into the air, in perfect sync, and shuddering. When they landed, it was paws that slid across the grass instead of feet.

My mouth dropped open as I watched the spot where my Seth had been. Now there was only a sandy-colored wolf next to a slightly larger russet one. They loped towards us, being careful not to startle me. Seth flopped into the soaked grass in front of me. Tentatively, I leaned forward and stroked his head.

"Kids! Will you quit horsing around?!" Esme scolded from the porch. "You'll catch your death out there! Come back in and get dry, will you?"

Nessie laughed and whipped her soaking wet curls at me. I screamed at her, dodging the spray of extra water. The motion caused me to slip and fall on my butt in the slick grass.

"Renesmee!" Esme slapped a hand over her face. "For once in your life can you pretend you weren't raised by wolves!"

"Now I take offense to that," A very human Jake said from behind us. I turned as he was pulling on his shorts alongside Seth.

"You're soaking wet, honey," Seth ran over to me, lifting me out of the grass into his arms. Automatically I nestled into his warmth, a deep blush spreading across my cheeks without a doubt.

Ness winked at me as Seth carried me, shirtless, into the house. I barely pretended that I wasn't staring at his sculpted chest. Holy Hell. He brought me up into my room and set me on the ottoman at the end of my bed.

"Jeez, did Alice get you any heavy sweaters?" Seth wrinkled his nose at my closet. I shrugged. After a moment's pause, Seth disappeared down the hall into his room. I only had a second to question his actions when he came back with a huge grey sweater. The letters had faded slightly, but they represented a high school in La Push.

"Here, you're gonna get sick," Seth handed it to me shyly. I leaned up and kissed his cheek.

He left me to get changed, so I stripped off my soaking clothes and put on some fabric shorts and Seth's sweater. My heart thudded unevenly as I pulled the hoodie on and surrounded myself with it. It was huge, of course, the sleeves covering my hands, but it smelled like him. I felt giddy from the scent - it was like a drug. I'd never been on drugs, but I really doubted my state of mind at the moment could be labelled "sober".

Nessie and I threw our wet clothes in the washing machine downstairs. Esme was just serving up dinner, shaking her head at all our antics. I couldn't help but notice Seth appraising me at dinner. I looked to Jake for some silent reassurance, he just grinned into his omelette.

"I'm so excited for our trip," Nessie bubbled. "I mean, yeah, the whole Charlie situation is really unfortunate, but I really want to show you the house in Forks! And our little cottage, and La Push! God, La Push is so beautiful, I could just go on for hours."

"It'll be good to get back home," Jake agreed. "Seth, you should talk to your mom."

"Yeah," Seth muttered. "Sure, sure."

After dinner, Nessie helped me pack my bag for Forks. I'd never been out of Oregon state, so I didn't know what to wear or bring.

"Sweaters," Nessie instructed. "It's fall and it's really permanently rainy there. Okay, boots and sneakers. Jeans, cozy pajama pants. Sweatpants!"

Once I was packed, Nessie followed me down the stairs. In the living room, the whole family was waiting for us. The flash startled me as Alice took a photograph.

"Your first photo as a Cullen!" Alice cried, waving the Polaroid around. In the photo I was standing on the stairs, holding a suitcase and wearing Seth's sweater and my shorts. I looked slightly confused, but like I knew I belonged there.

"What?" I asked as everyone stared at me. "Wait - the adoption went through?"

Jasper strode forward and handed me a birth certificate. With shaking hands, I looked down at it.

My name was printed across the top line. Juliet Emilie Cullen. Under mother, Esme Cullen was listed. Under father, Carlisle Cullen. I didn't know how Jasper even got this done so fast or so efficiently without even visits from a social worker. I didn't want to know, I just threw my brother into a bear hug.

The family laughed and we all chatted while I spent time with my mother and father. Esme and Carlisle. They promised that in the next town we moved to, I'd be their biological child no matter what people said.

Eventually we were sent up to our rooms to get some sleep before we left early tomorrow morning.

"Happy adoption day, little sis," Emmett lightly punched me. He and Rose both hugged me before disappearing into their rooms. I laid in bed for a while, tossing and turning until my phone lit up.

Seth: You still awake?

Me: Can't sleep.

Seth: Can't either! :(

Me: Can I ask you something that might be weird?

Seth: Anything

Me: Can you sleep in my room tonight?

Thunder rumbled close by as my door creaked open not long later. I moved over in bed, opening the covers for Seth. It dipped when he climbed in next to me. Thankfully Alice and Esme thought to get a rather large bed when designing my room.

I snuggled into his chest as he held me. We'd done this a million times before with Jake and Nessie around, but now it was just us. Both hearts beat heavily.

"You smell good," Seth held me closer. "Like strawberries."

I couldn't help but laugh. "Nessie said that the first time we had a sleepover."

Lightning lit up the room and I found his eyes open, meeting mine. The gravity in the room tripled, bringing me towards the centre of my universe. There was nothing else I wanted. Nothing in this world mattered at that moment.

His lips met mine. I'd tried not to, tried so hard not to love him. After all, imprints could just be friends. The second we collided, that fell apart. I melted into the kiss, holding him as close as I could. Time lost all meaning as we just explored each other. Eventually we snuggled, breathless into sleep. I was content - content to just kiss him for the rest of my life.

In the morning, I stared into his nearly black eyes. He had a goofy smile on his face. Still wearing the sweater, I got up and padded over to the mirror on my desk.

"Shit," I muttered. There was a hickey on my jaw, just under my ear. Not that I minded - I actually liked that he'd left a mark on me for everyone to see. Emmett would just never let it go.

"Kids!" Carlisle called from downstairs. "Breakfast!"

"Coming!" Nessie called from her room. I heard her hit the floor, scrambling to get up.

We entered our bathroom at the same time. She took in the sight of me, along with the sight of Seth in my bed in the background.

"Uh, busy night?" She snorted, yanking a brush through her curls. I leaned around her and spotted Jake in her bed.

"You should talk," I commented back. "Did you and Jake…?"

"NO!" She yelped. "No, thunder and lightning freaks me out so he slept in my room. That's it."

"A vampire scared of weather," I laughed, bending down to wash my face. "That's priceless."

We chatted as we made sure we were presentable. She reached out a slender, pale finger and poked the red-ish mark on my jaw.

"Hmm," she looked at it. I blew air through my nose and kept brushing my hair.

"I'm not saying a word," she walked back into her bedroom. I just laughed to myself and walked back through mine and down the stairs. Jake and Seth were already at the table, wolfing down cherry pancakes.

"Morning, girls," Carlisle placed down more pancakes as we entered the room.

"You cook?" I sat up at the kitchen table. Carlisle nodded proudly, explaining that he had time off work for our trip so he'd decided to cook for us. The pancakes were incredibly delicious - nobody had the Esme touch, but this was damn close.

"Emmett's taking you kids in the truck," Carlisle said. "Although, I think a responsible adult would be more suited for the job…"

"I'll remember to stop for food!" Emmett protested from the living room.

"It'll be a nearly seven hour drive," Carlisle continued, rolling his eyes. "If we leave about now, we'll get there around two-thirty. Emmett, don't drive too fast, you have non-vampires in the car!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Emmett bellowed. "All your bags are packed, let's go, let's go!"

Nessie and I wore simple black leggings and t-shirts. Hers was grey with a wolf on the front, some sort of tourist shirt from La Push, and mine was black with a white chest pocket. We brought hoodies with us into the car in case it got cold. Emmett was stocked with snacks, CD's and tons of jokes about my little hickey. It was time for the road trip.


	13. Forks

_Chapter Thirteen - Forks_

 _Juliet POV_

Emmett sat in the driver's seat, while Jake and Nessie sat in the middle row and we sat in the back seats. We snuggled up and messed around for most of the drive. Alice left us with the task of taking as many photos as possible for the Cullen family photo album.

We sang along to the radio, pelting snacks off each other's heads. Emmett made us scream by pretending to almost crash the car. Seth held my hand once we arrived in Washington state. I played it cool, but inside I was screaming.

Nessie took some great photos of Seth and I, her and Jake, and Emmett driving. She also took a lot of candids of us singing or laughing. Jake got a great picture of her laughing so hard she was crying.

We were beyond tired after the six hour drive. At 2 o'clock, Emmett passed a sign that said "Welcome to Forks, Washington". I poked my head out the window and looked around the town. We didn't stay in the main part for long, Emmett turned off the highway and onto a forested road.

"I can't believe we're back," Nessie shared a doe-eyed look with Jake. This place obviously held a lot of memories for them.

"Ness, when were you even born?" I asked as we bounced down the forest road.

"September eleventh of 2006," she commented airily. I gasped.

"Here we go," Jake snorted. "The great birthday debate."

"You didn't tell me it was your birthday!" I screamed.

"I don't celebrate my birthday!" Nessie insisted. "I put my foot down when I was one! My birthday really, really sucked! Nobody else in the family celebrates theirs."

"I can't believe you," I mumbled. "I feel like a total friend failure!"

"Why? It's just a day," Nessie rolled her eyes at me. "The ritual of celebrating your horrific, bloody launch into the world is just downright barbaric."

"Er, Nessie's birth was a little unconventional," Seth told me. "When's yours, anyways?"

"August ninth," I said. I never really celebrated it either. I hadn't had anyone to celebrate with since I was… thirteen.

The conversation was cut short when we arrived at a huge white house, the total opposite of ours back in Oregon. This was modern, tons of glass, and more clinical. Still, Renesmee was bouncing in her seat by the time Emmett rolled to a stop. She flew out of the car, bronze curls trailing behind her and catching the light. Jake just watched with a goofy grin as she bounded up the stairs.

Emmett got out to unload the bags while Jake ran after Nessie. Seth and I were left alone, now standing awkwardly in the yard.

"I feel like I don't belong here," I confessed to Seth. "Everyone else has such an attachment to this place besides me."

"We'll make some memories here," he promised. "And the Cullens will probably live here again some time. They always come back."

I let the excited Renesmee take me on a tour of the house. We didn't linger very long on the room she was born, and all the furniture was covered, but she seemed to be enjoying herself. She went over memories of her brief childhood again and again, from the time she warped Esme's silverware by playing with it, or the fashion shows she'd put on every day to an adoring crowd.

"Seems like you had an idyllic childhood," I commented, brushing a light layer of dust from the bookshelf we were standing beside. Her eyebrows puckered, with her lips pursed. I recognized that as her 'reflective and deep in thought' expression.

"Why haven't you told me about yours?" She asked suddenly. I guess I was trapped.

With a heavy sigh, I looked at her. "You sure you want to hear it?"

"Of course," she patted the desk next to us. We sat cross legged on the desk, watching dust motes dance along the air and catch the light

"My parents had me when they were young. I had an older sister, Erica. I guess they never really were in love. My mom cheated on my dad for a lot of their relationship. It was a whole town scandal - we lived in a small town like this one. Dad always had anger issues, and eventually he snapped. They called it a 'double homicide'. He killed my mom and her boyfriend, and then came looking for Erica and I. I'll never forget how she covered my tiny body with hers, hiding us in the closet. There was a gunshot, and I thought my sister had been killed. But when she squeezed my hand, I knew she wasn't the one who had died. We stayed in that closet for hours, afraid to leave because we knew what we'd see. But eventually Erica picked me up and told me we had to be big girls, we had to go get the police so we would be safe. On our bedroom floor, our dad was laying there. She told me not to look, but all I could see was dark red blood covering the pink flower rug we had. We had to pass their room to get to the telephone. There was two bodies there. The smell of blood still lingers sometimes, I swear I can smell it. The police came to get us. They didn't even know what to say to us. How to… explain what would happen to us," I paused to take a steady breath.

"We got separated in foster care. She was somewhere in Oregon with me, just in a different town. She kept 'acting out' so she got put in a group home for troubled teen girls. When I was thirteen, she was sixteen and she ran away. I stopped getting letters from her. There was a search for her, but nobody really cared that she was gone. No weeping parents pushing the cops to find their baby, you know? I don't know where she is now. Maybe she's dead, or maybe she's looking for me. I used to fantasize that she ran away to become a rock star and make a ton of money. Then she'd build us a castle and come rescue me. Three years passed and she hasn't come to rescue me."

Nessie had tears in her eyes when I finished. I just shrugged.

"Sometimes life deals you a rotten hand," I told her. "I just make the best of it, watching the sun set and working on my future."

"You have us, now!" Nessie pulled me into her arms. I inhaled her soft scent, burying my face in her curls. We just sat like that for nearly an hour, until we heard voices downstairs.

We joined the family in the living room.

"Charlie wants to see you," Bella fretted at her daughter. "He hasn't seen you in five years, not so much as a photo."

"I thought you moved to Oregon directly from Forks?" I asked.

"No, we went to Alaska for a few years after Nessie started to grow too much," Edward explained. "Then, we came back to Washington for a year but stayed in a different area, then when we decided that was too dangerous, we came out to Oregon."

"Reasonable," I commented.

"Alright, girls, Charlie is coming tomorrow. Then we'll talk to him about our options," Edward sighed. "Please, don't get your hopes up that Charlie will even want the change."

"How could you say that?!" Renesmee gasped. "You're offering him an eternity with Bella, and you think he'll just say 'no thank you'?!"

"He may not see it that way, honey," Edward tried to explain, but Nessie held up a hand.

"Don't want to hear it, Dad," she said, turning and bolting up the stairs. Bella and Edward just shared exasperated looks.

"Hey, Jules, you wanna build a pillow fort up in the guest bedroom?" Seth asked, bounding into the living room. My mind flashed to all the things we could end up doing in that pillow fort. Edward looked pained.

"Don't be doing anything impure to my little sister," he warned Seth. "I'll know, pal. I will know, and I will end you."

My heart swelled when he called me little sister. I just winked at him and grabbed the terrified Seth, running up the stairs with him to the guest room. We moved furniture, gathered blankets and came up with a plan. It took over an hour and a lot of swearing, but we got a decent-looking blanket fort.

Luckily we made it large enough for Seth and I to fit. We stretched out on the mattress that we'd flopped onto the floor, surrounded by quilts and pillows. The light filtered through gave everything a pinkish hue. It was warm, cozy and nice as rain pounded the roof.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked meekly. Seth nodded, his lead resting on his arm, just staring at me. "We've kissed a few-ish times now… So… what are we?"

Before he could answer, I covered my face. "Oh, God, I'm sorry. I never know what to do when a guy kisses me, like, does he want to be my boyfriend? Do we just have a 'thing'? What even is a thing?! And then I sound all needy by asking for a label, like, God she's so high maintenance. Just - forget I asked, please."

"Juliet," Seth stopped me. "I didn't know how to bring it up. I want nothing more in this world than to be your boyfriend and let everyone on the Earth know about it, if you'll have me."

I, very slowly, uncovered my face to make sure he wasn't joking. He really wasn't. As a reply, I launched myself at him, rolling onto his chest and into his arms. We stared at each other for a heartbeat before Seth's lips found mine and we disappeared into our own little world.

He rolled me over so that he was above me, kissing down my jaw, down to the hollow of my neck. Placing soft kisses on my cheekbones, my nose, my forehead. Kissing my lips gently, so tenderly and then all at once, diving forcefully into me. I met every step with eager enthusiasm. I took pride in his ragged breath as I kissed down his neck, sucking on his skin just lightly. Kissing his collarbones, nipping his shoulders. Laying with some of his weight on top of me, and then just laying together with our legs intertwined, our lips pressed together. I couldn't get enough, exploring his mouth, his skin. Our hands traveled tentatively, his winding into my hair, sliding down my back, across my butt. My hands memorised his firm shoulders, toned back and stomach. He actually moaned when my hand found its way onto his chest.

I didn't know how long it had been when Nessie gently interrupted us.

"Er - Jules, Seth, it's time for dinner," she coughed. I was starving! Seth and I joined the rest of the family down in the kitchen.

"Good evening," Jake snorted. "Nice of you to join us."

Nessie elbowed him under the table - giving him a 'stop that, Jacob' look. I blushed as under the light, you could see the tiny hickeys on both of our bodies, the slightly raw lips and distant, dreamy eyes. Nobody said anything until dinner, when Esme and Carlisle asked to speak with me privately.

They sat me down in Carlisle's study. I was acutely aware I was sitting in Nessie's birth room and tried to ignore that fact.

"We've noticed that you and Seth are becoming… intimate," Carlisle began, sounding torn between using his doctor voice or his dad voice.

"Understandably, we'd like to avoid any accidents," Esme took over. "So if you need access to any contraceptives, please don't hesitate to ask us or even your sisters, although I'd prefer you came to us."

"Oh, my god, Mom, Dad, I'm a virgin!" I blurted. "Seth only just became my, um, boyfriend."

"Oh," Esme raised her eyebrows. "Well, honey, it just seemed a little… well, this is good. What I said still stands. In addition, since Jake and Renesmee are allowed sleepovers, we're trusting you to behave. Seth can sleep in your room and vice versa."

"Thank you," I said genuinely.

"And, we trust you know how… everything works?" Carlisle asked awkwardly. "If you have any questions at all -"

"I'll definitely ask. Thank you," I repeated. "Really."

"Alright," Esme clapped her hands together, beaming. "I think that went well. Now, go play, dear."

"Not too much," Carlisle couldn't help but make the joke. I laughed while Esme shot him a scolding look.

"Okay, thanks again, Mom, Dad. I'm going to go now," I excused myself, darting up the stairs. I'd sustained enough awkwardness for one night. What really got to me, though, was that I'd so unthinkingly referred to them as my parents.

I couldn't ponder it long because I ran into Nessie on the stairs. She grabbed me and pulled me in like she was going to kiss me. I momentarily worried about some vampire custom I hadn't been introduced to until she whispered in my ear.

"I'm gonna tell Jake how I feel," she hissed. "Tonight, I'll put on something really sexy and show him I'm all grown up."

"Get it, girl," I whispered back. "Are you nervous?"

"A little. Alice let me borrow a little nightgown of hers. She says soon we'll go shopping to get us our own - you know, sexy things."

"Mom and Dad just tried to give me the sex talk," I whispered. Nessie cringed.

"Mine did that to me last year!" she continued whispering. Emmett appeared at the end of the hall.

"Are you guys making out?" He asked with a laugh. "What the Hell?"

"We are not making out!" I protested, spinning around. "We're sharing secrets."

"Secrets about what?" Emmett joined us, bending low. "I want to be let in."

"Do you need the sex talk? I hear Carlisle's giving them out tonight," Nessie snorted. Emmett shook his head.

"Think I'm good in that department, little one," he drawled. "Speaking of which, have you seen Rose?"

"With Alice in your room," Nessie said. He nodded and darted off. "Okay, time to go show Jake what I've got."

"Good luck," I whispered, padding off to find Seth.


	14. White Lace

_Chapter Fourteen - White Lace_

 _Renesmee POV_

Jake was sitting on his bed, reading a book when I awkwardly leaned against the door, pushing my hip out. He glanced up with an easygoing smile before it suddenly dropped from his face.

"Nessie, what are you… What?" Jake stammered. I strode forward as elegantly as possible, standing at the foot of the bed. His eyes took in the little white lace nightgown I was wearing. It barely reached my mid-thighs.

"I'm not a little kid anymore, Jake," I tried to sound confident. "So maybe you see me as just a little tag-along, but I'm actually a smart and powerful woman, and… and mature."

"Nessie," Jake sat up, putting his book down. He looked like he was trying not to laugh. My heart broke - he thought this was funny? My attempt to show him I was ready was… laughable to him!?

"Are you laughing?" I asked meekly. He swallowed hard and shook his head, but I already knew the truth. I ran into the closet and shut the door, leaning against the dresser as tears began to slide down my face. I felt rejected, embarrassed and hurt.

"Nessie," Jake said from the other side of the door. "Renesmee, please open the closet."

"No, you think it's funny!" I kicked the door. "It's not funny, Jacob Black!"

The carpet rubbed against his clothes as he obviously sat down. "I know it isn't funny. I have to talk to you."

"Talk through the door."

"I would really rather we do it face to face, actually," Jake was laughing again! I kicked the door so hard it swung out into his face and then I scooted away. He wanted to think I was immature? Fine, I could act like it!

"Ness, come here!" He shoved the door away and chased me into the closet. "Honestly, sit still!"

I ran out of closet. I leaned against the back wall, pouting. Jake knelt in front of me, looking at my flushed face in the dim light.

"Renesmee, do you have feelings for me?" He tenderly brushed a stray lock of hair from my face. I nodded, another tear escaping. He just swiped it with his thumb.

"I do have feelings for you, honey," Jake whispered raggedly. "I thought you still saw me as a friend, so I accepted that. You didn't have to… try and seduce me, sweetheart. As adorable as it was, you coulda just told me."

"I wanted to show you," I pouted again, though my heart was shimmering. "And I'm not adorable."

"Sure, sure," Jake rumbled. I was suddenly very aware of him, very close to me in a very dark closet. I didn't really want my first kiss to be in a closet. And then I realized I didn't much care where we were, so long as I got to feel his lips on mine.

"Can I kiss you, Jacob?" I whispered. His heart thudded heavily as he closed the distance between us in a nonverbal yes. My lips touched his carefully at first, brushing together as little shocks skittered across my skin. And then he was kissing me, I mean really kissing me and the whole world disappeared. We were one, in perfect synchronicity just like when we hunted. It was gravity, when he moved, I moved.

I didn't want to pull away. I never wanted to pull away. But my eyes were a little heavy and we had things to do in the morning. We fell into bed together, holding hands.

"Nessie?" Jake whispered in the darkness.

"Yes, Jacob?"

"If you don't want your parents to kill me, maybe you should wear somethin' a little longer to bed from now on," he suggested. "As much as it pains me to say that."

"Okay, Jacob," I blushed in the darkness. "Good call."

Seth POV

I was in love. That was a fact that hit me hard when I woke up that morning, still in our blanket fort with a sleeping Juliet in my arms. She looked so peaceful, lips slightly parted. The worry that constantly etched her face was gone. Instead there was a childlike hope and dreaminess to her face.

I let my eyes trace the tip of her nose, the curve of her lips, the freckles across her cheeks. Her softly closed eyes with dark lashes grazing her skin. I was just so in love with her. And now she was my girlfriend.

Today would be hard - I contemplated keeping Juliet away from the family drama. She didn't need to be involved in any fights so early in her life here. Then I realized keeping her away would only make her feel separated from the family. She already felt like an outsider with the fact that she was human. She thought she wasn't special enough to be here. If only she knew how special she was to me.

"She knows," Edward whispered softly from the doorway. "Sorry to intrude, Seth. It's eight AM, Charlie will be here in about an hour. He really wants to meet Juliet."

"Probably to make sure no one's been snacking on her," I deadpanned, planting a kiss on Juliet's cheek. "Wake up, little beauty."

"Mmm," she covered her face. "No, no."

"Yes - Grandpa Charlie wants to meet you," I laughed. My heart hurt a bit - over the last six years, Charlie had really stepped up as a dad. Even before him and my mom were dating, he took care of me, made sure I knew what I needed to know about being a man. Leah was slightly less welcoming - she hated the fact that our dad died, hated that we were so "quick" to replace him.

Leah was a real headache lately. I hadn't heard from her in a while - which was probably for the best. My family really was fragmented suddenly. I pushed that out of my mind. When Juliet was around, that didn't matter as much.

"Seth," Jake appeared at the door alongside Edward. "Get up, man. There's a pack meeting tonight in La Push. You wanna bring Juliet?"

"There's a what?" Juliet sat up.

"Nice, dude," I snapped. "Juliet, don't worry. All the guys bring their imprints to these campfires, we just eat and tell stories."

"Oh, thank god. I didn't bring any dressy clothes, so I was worried," she sighed. "Well, I'm awake now."

"Sorry, love," I kissed her temple, listening to the rapid beating of her heart. It sounded like Nessie's when she got excited.

Speaking of Nessie, she assaulted me when we reached the kitchen.

"Seth," Nessie pouted. "Don't you… don't you love me anymore?"

"'Course I do, you're my sister!" I lifted my hands in defense.

"Then why don't we hang out ever?!" She demanded. "I know you're like, in love with Jake, but you're my best friend too, and I have things to tell you! Both of you."

Juliet grinned at her. Something must have happened with Jake last night.

"We'll hang out after all this family drama settles down," I told her. "Promise."

"'Kay," she grabbed Juliet, grabbing a bowl of fruit for the two of them and going off somewhere alone. I tried not to pout - I guess I had to share Juliet with her best friend. Still, though. I missed her.

The house looked real different than it had yesterday - Esme had obviously spent all night cleaning and making the place look nice for Charlie. The vampires milled around nervously while we waited for Charlie's cruiser to pull up.

"It's time," Edward said suddenly, as gravel crunched underneath wheels. Rosalie, Emmett, Alice, and Edward left the room so not to overwhelm Charlie. Bella stayed, alongside Jasper, Esme, Carlisle, and myself. Nessie must have been hiding. I cocked my head and listened to Juliet trying to coax Nessie out of one of her hiding places. From the echoing, it sounded like it must have been the dryer.

"Charlie," Carlisle opened the door.

"Where's Bella?" Charlie entered the room. She stood, unsure of what to do. Charlie gasped.

"Oh, Bella," he jogged forward. They met in the middle, hugging each other tight.

"Dad, I'm so sorry for not telling you. I'm so sorry for all of this," Bella said into his jacket.

"I knew, sort of," Charlie sighed back. "I knew something wasn't right. I just wanted you to be happy, Bells."

"I wanted to let you in, all this time. But vampires have laws, Dad. I was in danger by knowing… and you would have been, too. You are in danger. I'm so sorry, I'll kill Leah," Bella growled the last sentence.

"Don't," Charlie shook his head. "I'm glad I know. I'll accept whatever consequences occur."

"Which is why we brought you here," Carlisle interrupted delicately. "Bella is right, you are in danger. We have to discuss our options. Charlie, if you'll have a seat."

Charlie sat on the armchair across from Bella. Jasper obviously sensed his ability wasn't needed, so he excused himself. Edward entered in his place.

"Charlie, you're looking well," Edward said. Charlie nodded at him curtly.

"Heard you could read minds, kid," Charlie said. "Pretty freaky."

"Yes," Edward chuckled, sitting down next to Bella. "A little freaky."

"Look, before we begin, where's Renesmee? And this Juliet girl, I'd like to meet her," Charlie was antsy.

"Grandpa," Renesmee said from the stairwell. "Please don't freak out."

Charlie's eyes boggled as Renesmee appeared in the living room in all her sixteen-year old hybrid glory.

"Jesus, kid," Charlie huffed. "Could you quit growing on me? Leah said you looked… older but… You look like my daughter, not Bella's."

Bella giggled. I'd never heard her do that before - must have been a nervous reaction. Renesmee and Charlie embraced and talked for a moment before Juliet entered and my heart swelled.

She was wearing a cute pale blue mid-thigh length dress with a slightly darker blue belt and spaghetti straps. Her hair, which was getting longer, was down around her ribs. She stuck her hands in her dress pockets nervously.

"Hello, Mr. Swan," she whispered. "It's nice to meet you."

"Please, it's Charlie," he got up and shook her hand. "Are you doing okay here?"

Juliet nodded, her sunny smile lighting up her face. "I'm really grateful to Carlisle and Esme for adopting me. I'm happy here."

"And Seth," Charlie glanced at me. "Treating you right?"

"He's amazing," Juliet peeked at me through her hair. Charlie nodded and moved back to the couch.

"So this imprint thing," he continued, sitting down. "Jacob imprinted on my granddaughter?"

"It's true," Edward said. "And not impure in any way. He wouldn't be alive if it were."

Charlie nodded. "Good man, Edward."

"Alright, I think I'm up to speed," Charlie sighed. "So, our options. What are they?"

"We could try to hide you," Bella began as Juliet went to tuck herself under my arm. "But that has a very low chance of working. You could marry Sue, or we're left with… one option."

"Sue is unable to accept that my daughter is a… vampire. Leah's unable to accept Bella as her sister. It's good to see Seth has some sense. So whatever the option is, I'm taking it," Charlie grunted.

"Dad," Bella chewed her lip. "Our only option is to turn you into a vampire. You… you would stop aging. You'd be frozen in time with us. We'd have to move around, you couldn't work as a police officer anymore. We'd have to live concealed from humans for a while, because you'd thirst for human blood. You'd never drink or eat again, only consuming animal blood. Is that something you want?"

Charlie was still and quiet for a few moments. "Bells, I only want to be a part of your life. If that means changing, adjusting to some new life, I think I could handle that. I'm not fragile, Bella. I can handle this."

"The change is very difficult," Carlisle cut in. "It is painful and lasts several days. One of us has to bite you, so their venom essentially infects you. It will feel like you're burning. When you wake up, everything will be clearer and sharper. You'll be faster, stronger. You won't need to breathe, or eat or sleep. And you'll thirst for blood."

"I can handle this," Charlie grunted again. "And I want Bella to change me. That's the deal - Bella does it."

"Dad, I can't bite-" Bella began. Edward cut her off.

"You don't have to bite him, love, we can use a syringe like I did for you," he kissed her head.

"It's settled, so change me," Charlie folded his arms. "I ain't getting any younger, Bella."

"Don't you want time to think, Charlie?" Esme offered softly. "This is a lot to take in."

"With all due respect, Esme, my son is a werewolf and my daughter is a vampire. I think I can make this decision pretty clearly," Charlie smiled at her. I beamed. Charlie thought of me as his son. I wasn't forgetting Harry - he was my dad. I'm sure in the spirit world, Harry was thanking Charlie for taking over and not leaving his son without a father figure.

Juliet's hand found my waist and she rubbed it. Obviously she'd caught it, too.

"I think it would be safest if Juliet and Renesmee stayed away for a while after your change," Edward said. "We're currently living in Oregon."

"Rose and Emmett could take the girls back home," Bella said. "Carlisle and Esme, too. We could stay and help train Charlie for a while."

"I'd miss you," Renesmee pouted. "Grandpa's not going to hurt me."

"He'll be a newborn, sweetheart," Bella said.

"I'm always right! Besides, Momma never hurt me or Charlie when she was a newborn," Nessie placed her hands on her hips, challenging us.

"You really wanna risk Juliet like that?" Bella shot back. I bristled. No way in Hell.

"…No, I guess not," Renesmee was beat and she knew it. "Well, dang."

"When are we, you know, changing me?" Charlie was impatient.

"If Bella will join me upstairs, I'll extract the venom and we can begin whenever you're ready," Carlisle gestured to the stairs. Bella darted up, followed closely by Carlisle.

"Guess we're doing this," Charlie muttered as the rest of the family, including Jake, filtered in. Everyone chatted to Charlie, catching him up on our exploits while Bella and Charlie were upstairs. They also explained some vampire mechanics to him, including how Nessie was possible, while skipping the gory details. Alice broke out the photo album, showing him pictures from all Nessie's growth, to my first days with the family, and then the night of my adoption.

"Dad, is there anything you need to take care of at home before we do this?" Bella asked once they had returned. He thought for a few moments before nodding.

"I'll need to resign at work… What will I say?" Charlie snapped his fingers.

"We'll have to say you died, Charlie," Carlisle said carefully. "I'm a doctor, so I can easily say you had a heart attack and sign your death certificate."

I suddenly frowned. No, no, no. This was bringing up too many memories. My heart thudded painfully as I thought about my dad, the way his face looked when he suddenly keeled over, clutching his chest.

"I'm just gonna go get some fresh air," I excused myself, walking outside. Juliet followed after me.

"Seth?" Juliet sat beside me on the stairs. "What's wrong?"

"My dad died when I was fifteen, back in 2006," I told her, chest heaving. "Leah had just phased for the first time. She was the first female to ever phase - she got pissed, and suddenly she was a wolf. It shocked our dad so bad that he… he leaned over. When we got him help, it was too late. Part of why Leah's so angry all the time is 'cause she blames herself, you know? And then I phased. His passing made me so… emotional, I just burst."

Juliet POV

"Seth," I whispered, holding him close as a cool mist coated our skin. "I'm so sorry."

"S'okay," Seth grabbed my hand. "Just miss him a little."

"I know how you feel," I sighed into his shoulder. We sat in silence for a while until something dawned on me.

"Are you twenty one?" I shot up, nearly falling off the porch steps.

"No! Well, yes and no. I stopped aging when I phased the first time! Physically, I'm about sixteen!" Seth covered his face. "Shit, I can't believe I didn't tell you! I'm so sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, Jules. It just slipped my mind!"

"No, no, it's okay," I steadied my breathing. "Okay, unexpected, but I live in a family of immortals… obviously I should have clued in. Gosh, that was just a shock. I'm good now. It's fine, it's not like my best friend isn't a six year old."

"Sorry again," Seth laughed, taking my hand. I squeezed it, letting him know it was alright.

"It's arranged," Nessie appeared at the door. "We're doing it tonight. Carlisle is calling the station now and breaking the news."

"What about us?" I asked Nessie, leading Seth back into the house, my hand never leaving his.

"We're leaving tomorrow morning," Nessie huffed. "Except I don't want to."

"We just got here," Seth groaned. "Can't you get Edward and Bella to swing us another day or two?"

"They don't know how long it'll take Charlie to change," Nessie answered glumly. "But maybe we can put it off 'till tomorrow night, make it an all-nighter trip."

"Not like we're missing anything good at school," I added. The others agreed. For the rest of the afternoon, Nessie toured me through the cottage, the forest surrounding the house, and the river. The weather wasn't very nice, so we retreated inside.

"We're leaving in an hour," Jake kissed Nessie's head. She led me upstairs to get ready for the pack meeting.


	15. The Pack

_Chapter Fifteen - The Pack_

 _Juliet POV_

"It can get chilly," she told me, going through our bags. "But, half the people there will be wolves, so their body heat will warm the place up."

She dressed me in a white tank top with a thick, pale blue dress shirt style sweater over it, leaving it open. For bottoms, she put me in slightly ripped black skinny jeans and a pair of sturdy brown combat boots.

"That's perfect," she appraised me as she put on her own outfit, which was a black tank top paired with frayed white skinny jeans and a plaid shirt around her waist. We left our hair loose, not needing to dress it up, and only applied the barest hints of makeup.

"You girls ready?" Seth called from downstairs. We ran down together, chatting and giggling. While we were changing, Nessie told me about her and Jake's kissing from last night. I high-fived her.

"So, are you like, official now?" I whispered as we thudded down the steps.

"I don't even know," she moaned. "Guess I'll find out."

Jake drove us to La Push. The light was fading as the sun set, but from what I could see, La Push was breathtaking. No wonder it was such a popular tourist destination. We drove to a secluded area on the cliffs, where a fire was already building up and food was being cooked.

"Jake!" Some people I didn't know ran over. "Long time no see, both of you."

"Embry, Quil," Jacob said to some tall, attractive boys. "Good to see you."

"We heard Seth imprinted on a vamp chick," Embry snorted. Quil elbowed him in the ribs - they caught sight of me standing just behind Renesmee. I blushed and bit my lip. Why did it feel like I was about to cry?

"Oh… Hey," Embry said awkwardly. Seth took my hand, tucking me into his side. We converged with the rest of the party, everyone commenting on how Renesmee had grown.

"Everyone, this is Juliet Cullen," Seth said proudly. Everyone turned to look at me. I could just feel them judging me as soon as the Cullen name left Seth's mouth.

"Welcome to the family, Juliet," a tall girl with raven-black hair pulled me away from Seth and into a hug. "I'm Emily."

One side of her face had deep scars winding around it like vines. She was still beautiful - especially the way her smile lit up her eyes.

"It's nice to meet you," I smiled at her. I already liked her. I was introduced to the other imprints. Claire, a ten year old who was Emily's niece and Seth's cousin as well as Quil's imprint, and Kim, who was older than us and Jared's imprint.

I was introduced to Jared, Embry, Quil, and the other wolves. The imprints were all nice to me, but the wolves seemed a little wary around me. When they thought I couldn't hear, I just caught the tail end of "-smells like vampire.".

My cheeks burned as I was introduced to the elders, Billy Black and Quil Ateara. They both welcomed me warmly, without any suspicion at all. Suddenly, Seth tensed up beside me.

A few more people had just arrived. My heart dropped as I realized I was about to meet Seth's mother and sister. Jake was supposed to be nearby as a buffer, but he was busy embracing his sister, Rachel, when she and a wolf named Paul arrived.

Sue strode over to Seth immediately, pulling him into a tight hug.

"How are you doing, Mom?" Seth asked, hugging her back.

"I'm better, Seth," Sue told him. "Now, where's your - Oh, hello."

She had let go of her son and was now staring at me as if she was trying to memorize my face.

"Hello, I'm Juliet," I said tentatively. "It's nice to meet you."

Sue smiled and shook my hand. "I'm Sue. It's a pleasure to finally meet this mystery girl. Welcome to the family."

I liked Sue already. The three of us chatted for a bit before Leah walked up, glaring at me.

"Leah, this is Juliet," Seth said wearily, wrapping his arm around my waist.

"Just charmed," Leah snapped. "Seth, how can you stand the vampire smell?"

"She doesn't smell like vampire, she smells like strawberries," Seth told her matter-of-factly.

"Right," Leah turned and stalked off. Seth just shared a look with his mom.

"Same old cheerful Leah," Seth said with a sigh. "Hey, you hungry?"

We all got settled around the fire with paper plates of food. The clearing fell silent aside from the crackling of the fire and the waves down below. Billy Black cleared his throat before launching into stories. After a moment, I realized they weren't legends. They were real tellings of the Quileute history.

Sitting snuggled up to Seth, I listened with rapt attention. Nessie seemed peaceful - she'd grown up hearing the stories. This was my first time.

My blood ran a little cold when Billy started talking about the more recent events. The tribe nearly went to war within itself and against the Cullens when Renesmee was born, until the fateful imprint brought everyone together. Nessie and Jake would go down in history as the union that stopped war and bonded vampires and werewolves.

That wasn't to say there was no longer any prejudice - I still was getting a cold reception from a lot of the pack. Whatever. I didn't need their approval. I was a Cullen girl. If they wanted to say that made me less than them, so be it.

Billy looked at me from across the fire.

"Depending on what path young Juliet Cullen chooses to walk, she may very well join the legends sooner than we think," he said, making steady eye contact with me. Leah scoffed quietly as a chill ran through the small crowd.

After the stories, we chatted amongst ourselves. Claire came over to Nessie and I. She basically worshipped the ground Nessie walked on, because of what Nessie was and the fact that she was now a Quileute legend.

"Can I tell you guys a secret?" Claire whispered after our boys had gone to wrestle. She climbed determinedly up onto Nessie's lap.

"What's the secret?" I leaned forward. Claire's black eyes sparkled in the firelight. A mischievous smile formed on her lips. She checked to make sure both Nessie and I were paying attention before she spoke.

"I have a crush on Quil," she declared. I guess she didn't realize that half the people here had super hearing. Across the fire, standing with Emily and Sam, Quil sprayed Cola everywhere.

"Good luck, man," Sam clapped him on the back. We distracted Claire so she wouldn't notice they were talking about her and get embarrassed.

"Quil's a little older than you, hon," Nessie held Claire tightly. "Don'tcha think you should wait a few years?"

"Nope," Claire popped the 'p'. "Quil's only sixteen, I'm ten, you know. Anyways, he gives me what I want all the time. I'm gonna make him play prince and princess with me, and then we'll have to get married. And then we'll kiss."

"Ohh, I see," Nessie nodded.

"When are you gonna marry Jacob, Nessie?" Claire asked. "Juliet and me can be your ladies in waiting, since you're the vampire princess."

"Princess phase," Nessie mouthed at me over Claire's head. I grinned.

"We're not getting married yet, but I'll let you know before we do," Nessie planted a kiss in Claire's hair. "Promise."

Eventually, it was Claire's bedtime. Quil reluctantly went to take her home. She clung sleepily to Nessie's neck, blinking at the two of us.

"Come back soon," she made us pinky promise before getting into Quil's car. Sam and Emily took Old Quil home before going back to their place. The rest of the guests began to leave, Sue hugging all of us before taking Billy home. I was falling asleep as we got into Jake's car, the crackling of the fire lingering in my head as the night lights slid by.

I barely remembered getting back to the house, changing into a t-shirt and shorts before falling into bed next to Seth and then slipping under, into sleep.


	16. Blood and Morphine

Author's Note: So, the story's in the middle bits now. There's about to be some major plot stuff happening now. If I've made any errors, I'm sorry. I'm barely sleeping anymore so it's hard to make sure I filter through every plot bump. Anyways, if you could leave a review telling me what you think or how you feel about what's happening, that would be so amazing. I'd really love all your feedback! -Eli x

 _Chapter Sixteen - Blood and Morphine_

 _Juliet POV_

The house was eerily quiet when I woke up. I couldn't place what was wrong until I realized that Charlie's voice wasn't begging for death. I began to worry - had something gone awry during his change? I leapt out of bed, bolting down the hall to Carlisle's study. Everything shifted by in slow motion as my bare feet hit the carpet.

The only sounds I could hear were my heavy, ragged breaths and my heart pumping in my chest. I stopped at the doorway of Carlisle's study.

A face I hadn't seen in years stared blankly back at me. She stood in the center of the room, gazing evenly towards the door as though she'd been expecting me.

"Erica?" I squeaked. "How did you find me?"

"Juliet, you have to - ugh!" My sister cried out as two pale hands wrapped around her chest. A dark-haired man sank his teeth into her neck. Dark red blood sprayed everywhere as my sister choked. The predator made quick work of her before meeting my eyes. His own blood red irises caught the light. I knew those eyes.

"CHARLIE, NO!" I screamed as I sat up, tears pouring from my eyes. "NO!"

Someone was holding me down and shouting. I screamed, a thousand bitter memories flooding back at once. I couldn't see, I couldn't hear. I just tried to save myself from the enemies attacking at all angles, kicking and screaming and fighting back. Hot hands burned my fevered skin - I cried out, tears dripping, or maybe it was blood.

Cool hands suddenly replaced the hot ones. Strong, firm arms wrapped me up.

"Julie, Julie, stop!" Someone shouted. "It's me, it's Emmett!"

"Emmett!" I cried. He held me close, whispering in my ear. Slowly the cool temperature of his body brought me back to reality. I opened my eyes.

Emmett was sitting on the bed, holding me like a baby. Seth was standing next to Jacob, looking petrified. Nessie was being restrained by Jacob in her attempts to get to me. Edward and Esme were standing in the doorway, similar masks of shock on their faces. Rosalie was in the middle of the room, a knowing and forlorn look on her typically angelic features.

"What's happening?" I wiped tears from my face, attempting to calm my racing heart.

"You started having a nightmare," Edward explained quietly, coming up to the bed. "Seth tried to wake you, but you just kept screaming like you were being attacked. Your skin was burning up so Emmett tried to cool you down."

"I'm sorry," I felt like throwing up. "I'm going to go get a drink of water. Excuse me, sorry."

I leapt up and darted out of the room. My stomach churned. As I was going down the hall, I heard their voices behind me.

"She thought I was hurting her!" Seth was snapping at someone.

"Seth, she needs space," Edward sounded calm. "Just let her gather herself."

"Edward, does this mean what we all think it means?" Esme sounded horrified. "What did they do to her?"

"She's a fighter, Esme," Edward responded. "She's going to be alright. The nightmare triggered her fight or flight response, she didn't know where she was. She knows you'd never hurt her, Seth."

"That looked like an episode of PTSD," Jake was saying. I just turned away and ran down the stairs to the kitchen. On the way back, I refused to look into the study. I didn't hear any screaming. There was probably a good explanation for that.

Back in the guest room, everyone was staring at me.

"We'll give you some peace," Esme patted my cheek. Everyone left besides Nessie and Rose. I sat on the bed, rubbing my temples. Renesmee quickly checked to make sure I was okay with being touched before launching herself into my arms.

"Juliet, I know this may be hard to talk about," Rosalie sat down on the bed with us. "I went through something similar to what you went through at the end of my human life. I'm not going to force you to say anything, but I'm here if you want to talk."

"Thank you, Rose," I nestled into Renesmee's warm skin. "I really appreciate it."

Rosalie excused herself while Jake and Seth came in. They didn't say anything at first, just climbed into bed with Nessie and I. The four of us piled together like dogs, with no real consideration to where we placed ourselves. My three best friends just silently comforted me, no questions asked.

"Charlie isn't screaming," I pointed out, looking up at Jake. He was absently braiding a small lock of my hair.

"No, he's not. They injected him with morphine before the venom. They did the same with Bella," he explained, his voice vibrating in my ears a bit.

"Hope it works this time," Seth said with an apologetic look at Nessie. She just shrugged. Her legs were over Jake's waist, with her head tucked against my chest. I was leaning into Jake's chest with my legs over Seth's lap. One of Seth's hands was holding mine. Jake was braiding my hair and Nessie seemed to be napping, although she participated in the conversations.

After everyone had gotten over the shock of this morning's unpleasant episode, we basically resolved not to talk about it anymore - which was fine with me.

As we were packing in the afternoon to get back to Forks, I stopped by the study to see Charlie. No longer the vicious predator in my dream, he was lying very peacefully and oddly still on the table. Bella sat next to him, her elbows folded on the hardwood surface, chin resting on her forearms. She looked rather childlike as she watched her father with wide golden eyes.

"He doing okay?" I asked, leaning against the door. Bella nodded. Charlie was a lot paler than he had been when he arrived - the pockmarks and wrinkles that used to accent his features were now replaced with smooth white skin. He would have looked like a corpse if not for the steady rise and fall of his chest.

"The morphine won't last," Bella sighed before I left. "And once it's gone, he'll be too vampire to give him more."

"He can handle it," I promised her. "It'll be worth it in the end."

"Thanks, Jules."

"Yeah."

I went downstairs, standing in front of the wide window. The sun was dipping low behind the mountains, casting a pink-orange glow over everything in sight. One more sunset, one more day ending. I'd stopped thinking of it as 'one more day survived' since I really started to feel at home here.


	17. Turning Point

_Chapter Seventeen - Turning Point_

 _Juliet POV_

We made the trip back to Oregon overnight. I was scared to sleep for the first hour and a half. I thought I'd have another nightmare. Eventually, though, I was laying in Seth's arms in the backseat, listening to the gentle lull of his breath. Every so often I would open my eyes and peek at his face - I couldn't help it. He was just so perfect and angelic.

The rocking of the car and Seth's warm embrace lured me into sleep. Thankfully it was a dreamless sleep. The sun was just creeping over the horizon, dyeing the land an inky blue when I cracked my eyes open. Seth was tracing lazy circles on my back, staring out the window. I kissed his neck in greeting.

"Morning, Jules," he whispered. I glanced at Rosalie and Emmett in the front seat, holding hands while she drove.

"Mm," I said matter-of-factly, snuggling back into his neck. He pulled the blanket tighter around us. We stayed there until the car stopped in the familiar meadow.

"Home," I mumbled, rolling off of Seth and onto the car floor. "Ouch."

We all stumbled sleepily inside, wrapped in blankets. The house was freaking freezing! Nobody had been home for days to keep the heating going. I shivered under the blanket.

"Let's get you back to bed," Seth told me. We shuffled up the stairs, all the way into my bedroom. As I expected, the bed was freezing as well. It was only September 21st, but it felt like winter.

"Seth," I cried. "It's cold."

He laughed, wrapping his blanket around the two of us and bringing me in.

"I feel like a penguin," I commented, wrapped in my own blanket in his arms.

"Me, too," he agreed. "You know, when penguins find their forever mate, they go get the prettiest rock they can find and bring it back to their partner."

"I'll remember that next time I see a pretty rock," I planted a kiss on his neck. "And I'll bring it to you."

"My little penguin," Seth laughed. "Who's asleep on her little flippers. Let's get you into bed."

"Come give me your body heat, please," I tugged him towards my bed.

"Jules, you're still wearing your jeans and shoes!" he cried out. "You can't sleep in those."

"So take 'em off," I mumbled, flopping down onto my bed. I really couldn't have cared less at that point - I was tired. Sleeping in a moving car didn't provide the best rest.

"A-are you sure?" He sounded nervous. I didn't even open my eyes.

"Yes."

Seth unlaced my boots, dropping them on the floor by the closet. After a moment of hesitation, he reached down and tugged off my jeans to reveal my simple black with white polka dot hipster-cut panties.

My oversized grey t-shirt was enough to cover my thighs when Seth, just wearing shorts and a t-shirt, got into bed next to me. I snuggled into his warmth before frowning.

"It works better if you take your shirt off," I tugged at the hem of his shirt.

"What does?" Seth laughed, pulling off the cotton shirt and tossing it onto the floor. I pulled him back under the covers, sealing in the warmth.

"The warming thing," I told him. I was very aware of our bodies, which were pressed very close together. Typically I would work that situation to my extreme advantage, but I was too tired. I fell asleep almost immediately.

Later, when we finally got out of bed, the house was eerily silent. Emmett and Rose were the only vampires around, everyone else was still in Forks.

"Jake and I gotta go to a pack meeting," Seth said, combing his short hair. I sat up quickly.

"Back to Forks?!" I asked incredulously. He shook his head and laughed.

"No, we're gonna phase. We'll be back in about an hour, we might go for a run in the woods, though, so hour and a half tops," Seth came over and kissed me. I smiled against his lips.

"Don't stay away too long," I told him as he left. "I'll miss you."

Emmett and Rose left to hunt, so I was left with Renesmee.

"What do you wanna do?" She flopped down on the couch. I tossed a Playstation controller at her.

"I wanna kick your ass at Mario Kart," I quipped, curling up next to her. She arched one eyebrow at me. She was the house champion and Mario Kart.

"You're on," she sat up straight. We launched into a heated match. Most of the hour slipped by in a blur of flashing colors and comical sounds.

As expected, Renesmee won the match. I threw the couch cushion at her head, poking my tongue out.

"Oh, you wanna rumble?!" Nessie growled playfully, jumping into a hunting crouch.

"Are you gonna wiggle your butt before you pounce, like a cat?" I teased, mimicking her crouch. She bared her teeth, but the effect was lost since she was grinning.

"You're gonna be sorry!" She laughed, wiggling her hips.

"Bring it, I'm the vamp chick, remember?" I goaded. Nessie launched herself at me, careful not to actually hurt me. We rolled backwards off the couch. My attempts to throw her off were futile - in a flash, she had me pinned. She leaned forward as if she was going to kiss my neck.

I felt a pinprick on my jugular. It took a moment to realize what had happened.

"Nessie, you bit me!" I cackled. "You bit me actually!"

"Oh, fuck," she cursed, pulling me onto my feet to get a better look. "My teeth must be getting sharper."

"You're not poisonous, are you?" I asked, suddenly slightly wary.

"No," she laughed. "I used to bite Jake all the time. And the term would be venomous."

We flopped back onto the couch, laughing. The bite tingled slightly as though someone had poured soda on it. I ignored it until suddenly a hot flash of pain struck my chest.


	18. Falling

Author's Note: Aww, part 2 is coming to an end soon! Don't worry, part three is on the way and eventually book 2! I'll try to update as much as possible. I've been swinging several chapters a day for a while but that might slow down to just one chapter a day/two days because I'm starting school on Monday (a little about me: I'm 16, a girl and a student) and I'll have a little less free time. Of course, only two of my classes are academic. The other two I just have time to sit on my laptop and write or watch movies. So don't worry, I won't abandon Cliff's Edge anytime soon! - Eli xx

 _Chapter Eighteen - Falling_

 _Bella POV_

I watched as Charlie's transformation took place in front of me. He was sturdier, smoother, paler now. The scent of morphine was becoming fainter.

A shrill cellphone ringing downstairs startled me. Edward picked up and was met with Jacob's frantic voice. I was too far away to hear, but I caught my daughter's name. Had something happened at home? With a single torn look at Charlie, I darted downstairs.

"Jacob, calm down, explain," Edward's voice was hard. I leaned in to listen.

"Jules and Nessie were home alone!" Jacob yelled. "They were playing, Nessie bit Jules on accident, now something's really wrong with her!"

"What do you mean?" Edward's voice was close to ice. "CARLISLE!"

"We came in and she was on the floor - she's got a fever, she's completely out of it and shaking. This has never happened before, I don't know what to do!" Jake sounded absolutely frantic.

"We're coming, call if anything changes," Edward spoke quickly before slamming the phone shut. Carlisle had just arrived in the room.

"Stay with Charlie, love!" Edward called to me as he and Carlisle sprinted from the house. I threw up my hands in defeat. My daughter was in a crisis and he just expected me to stay with Charlie? On the other hand, Nessie would have Edward and Charlie would need me.

I couldn't sit still as I waited for information.

Juliet POV

Featherlight hands touched my body. They felt like sweet, soft kisses. I was filled with light, bright light. I could feel it inside me. I scratched at my skin, trying to show the light and let it free. The hands held me down.

Water pushed through my veins. My lungs expanded, contracted, comically huge and then small. What was happening to me? My skin felt like it was burning, my insides twisting and bubbling. Angel voices called to me from afar. One stood out more than the rest, a deep silky voice, full of kindness, full of childlike passion.

I knew that voice. It was the voice I would have followed gladly into death. The voice jarred me back into reality.

I was in pain - and a lot of it. My insides were dissolving or something equally horrifying.

"Seth!" I tried to call out. My throat was filled with something, although I could breathe. I tried hard to focus on the voices surrounding me. I could understand them now, they were my family.

Jacob, Nessie, and Seth. All talking at once, mostly shouting.

"S-Seth!" I choked out over the rapid swell and ebb of my throat. "I'm scared!"

Did this have anything to do with Nessie biting me? Was I allergic to hybrid saliva or something?

"Carlisle's coming, Juliet," Seth said. He sounded hoarse, or maybe that was because my eardrums were collapsing and reconstructing. "Carlisle's coming and he's gonna fix you up."

I held on to the hope that Seth's voice gave me, but it really felt like I was dying. For sure something wacky was going on with my insides. Like, incredibly wacky. My veins had turned to water and my insides to mush. I really hoped I wasn't dying. That would royally bite.

Carlisle POV

"Almost to Silverton!" Edward pointed out some landmarks. I nodded, leaning forward, willing my body to run faster. I had to be faster - my daughter could be dying in the arms of her friends, waiting for me to get to her. I couldn't fail her - I couldn't fail my family. Not after all that we'd been through, not after promising her safety. I could not bear losing my daughter.

Just run faster, Carlisle! I snapped at myself. I saw the lights of Silverton approaching. Keep going, keep moving, don't slow down now. We would get through this.

We had to.

Jake POV

Renesmee was in full freakin' meltdown mode. I was attempting to perform some basic first aid on my best friend's girlfriend, not to mention my imprint's best friend. Nessie's meltdown was really distracting me though. Man, if I screwed this up and Juliet died, everyone would be majorly pissed.

Yeah, just keep cracking jokes, Jacob. Whatever eases the pressure. From what I could tell, Juliet's throat wasn't blocked, but she was struggling to breathe. I took another look, harder this time. It was weirdly flexing,opening and closing. Her muscles seemed to shift and harden underneath me, solid one moment and soft the next. She was rapidly losing color - not just in her face, in her whole body from what I could see.

I wasn't stupid. I had gotten basic tutoring from Doc Vamp. I probably should stop calling him that. Anyways, Carlisle was giving me lessons on the side. After my life stops being so damn crazy - for example, when I graduate highschool again and Nessie's all grown up, I'm going to study to be an EMT or a nurse. So that people like my mom don't die and kids like me don't grow up without a parent. That sorta thing.

Anyways, some seriously freaky crap was happening with the kid. She was starting to look even more like Renesmee - a million possibilities crossed my mind when I made that connection. Oh, hell no. Oh, fuck. Oh, god damn. No.

It made sense, if you thought about it. Her skin was trying to harden, when I placed pressure on her abdomen I could feel her organs changing. Or adapting. Even her facial structure was shifting before our eyes. I pressed my head to her writhing chest - it sounded like Nessie. I could smell vampire on her. Was that just because she spent all her time fraternizing with vampires, or was it something else?

Nessie wasn't supposed to have venom. There was only one person who had answers for me. Nahuel. I didn't particularly like the kid, but if it would help us, I could swallow my pride.

"Renesmee, honey, go to Carlisle's office. Look through his phone book, whatever you can. Find Nahuel or Huilen's contact information. Can you do that for me?" I kept my voice calm and level while monitoring Juliet, who we had propped on the couch.

"Why?!" Nessie asked.

"Just go!" I told her. She nodded and was gone in a flash. Upstairs, I could hear books hitting the floor as she clumsily searched Carlisle's desk. I turned my attention to Seth. The boy was a wreck, with red puffy eyes and a wild look on his face. I'd be the same way if Nessie was in Juliet's position. That wasn't to say I wasn't worried about Juliet - she was one of my closest friends and my stomach was sick. I was just pushing it down so that I could give her the care she needed.

"Seth, I need you to go into the kitchen and get a glass of water and bring it here, okay?" I asked evenly.

"I don't wanna leave her," Seth shook his head. "Don't make me leave. Please."

"Hey, Seth? I've got her. I'm not gonna let her die, and Carlisle's gonna be here any second. I need you to do that for me now," I told him, staying firm. Seth got up and jogged to the kitchen. Hopefully the movement and activity would help clear his mind, but eventually I would have nothing left to keep him busy.

"Dammit, Doc, hurry up," I grunted, listening to Juliet's heart. It was starting to mimic Nessie's almost perfectly in tempo.

"Seth?" Juliet asked weakly, eyelids fluttering.

"It's me, Jacob," I told her with a grin. "He's playing nurse at the moment."

"Hiya, Jake," she tried to shift. I held her down gently.

"Stay still, hon. Are you in pain?"

Her eyebrows furrowed and she nodded. "I'm really sore from the inside out. It's like my… organs are…"

"You don't have to talk if it hurts," I told her. "Can you breathe, yes or no?"

"Kinda," she took a deep, shunted breath.

"Can you tell me how it felt after you got bit?"

"Tingled -" Deep breath. "Then hurt. Where's -" Deep breath. "Nes'mee?"

"Upstairs running errands," I told her. "Now, save your breath."

Seth came in as Juliet closed her eyes again. He set the water down on the coffee table and resumed his crouch by her head. He was afraid to touch her. I smiled at him.

"It's gonna be okay, man," I told him. "I have theories, and I'm about ninety percent sure she's definitely not going to die."

"Really, Jake?" Seth glared. "Not funny."

"Not a joke."

"You know what's wrong with her?" His voice broke. His eyes were helpless as he stared down at her. Here was a girl who had a lot going on for her, a boy who'd never let her go, a family that actually cared for her. It would really suck if she bit the dust right after getting what she wanted.

"I won't know till Carlisle gets here," I looked at my watch for the fifth time. Where was the guy?

"We're here!" Edward burst into the room.

"Quickly brief us on the situation," Carlisle's voice was all business. He was in doctor mode, not dad mode.

"Juliet started to experience an odd tingling sensation after Nessie's bite. She then fell and was unresponsive until a few moments ago. Her skin keeps fluctuating between hard and soft, her organs are oddly pulsing and her heartbeat is going at a similar tempo to Nessie, steadily increasing but not going higher than Nessie's average BPM. Her facial structure undergoing slight changes, entire body steadily losing complexion," I ranted as Carlisle listened to Juliet's hard, felt her skin and placed pressure on her abdomen.

"Good work, Jacob," Carlisle said. He closed his eyes and inhaled.

"Her scent is starting to mimic Renesmee's. What's your theory, son?"

"I think there's something we've yet to learn about hybrids," I told him. "I think Juliet is changing into something. Nessie's venom was likely never strong enough to impact me. I sent Nessie to your office, she's looking for a way to contact our friend Nahuel."

"Ahh, Nahuel," Carlisle mused. "Yes, I have his cellphone number. Watch Juliet, I'll call Nahuel. Edward, console your children, please."

Seth was sitting on the floor looking shellshocked. Nessie had just come from Carlisle's office, her hair wild in all directions and tears on her face.

"I couldn't find anything!" She wailed.

"It's alright, Renesmee, Carlisle has it handled," Edward scooped her up into a hug. "Juliet's going to be just fine, love."

While Edward was sitting with Seth and Renesmee, Carlisle called a number. After a few moments, he spoke.

"Hello, Nahuel, it's Carlisle. Yes, it has been a while. I'm fine, how are you?" Carlisle made small talk for a moment. "Listen, Nahuel, we have a situation here. Renesmee was playing with our sixteen year old human daughter and bit her by accident. She's very ill now - not Renesmee, calm down, my daughter is ill. Yes, her temperature and heartbeat are above average and she has organ pains. Yes. I see - Nahuel, I'm wondering, why didn't you contact me as soon as you knew? Yes, well the damage is done. Is there anything else I should know? I see. Uh-huh. We'll be in touch. Thank you, goodbye."

Carlisle's face was enraged when he hung up the phone.

"What, what is it?" I pressed.

"Nahuel and his sisters discovered that hybrids can be created," Carlisle pinched the bridge of his nose. "For some reason, female hybrids can only change human females. If I was a geneticist I could study a venom sample… nevermind that. Juliet's going through a very painful change, she'll have a rough night and a stressful road ahead of her."

"She's going to live, Carlisle? For sure?" Seth piped up from the floor, tears streaming down his face.

"Yes, Seth, she's going to live for sure," Carlisle sighed with relief. "She'll reach full growth like Nessie and then hopefully stop - but I'm not taking any chances. Weekly checkups for her for the next hundred years. God, I feel like I've just aged a decade."

"We all feel that way," I sighed. "Scared the crap outta me."

"When will she wake up?" Seth asked as Juliet flinched on the couch.

"Likely some time later tonight," Carlisle said. "We'll have to keep a close watch, comfort her when she's conscious. I'll excuse myself now to call everyone back in Forks, get an update on Charlie and let them know the news. Edward, if you would be so kind…"

"I'll call Rose and Emmett," Edward confirmed, pulling out his cellphone. "They won't be so happy."

The two vamps disappeared to make their phone calls. Nessie stood shakily, like a baby deer, and made her way over to where Juliet was. She sat down numbly.

"You did a good job, Jacob," she whispered. I tucked her into my side, kissing the top of her head. When would it quit? All this crazy stuff going on in our lives. We had five quiet years, now everything was upside down. Charlie was gonna be a freakin' Dracula, for Pete's sake.

"Yeah, guess so," I said. We watched Juliet in silence for several long moments.

"Is she going to hate me?" Nessie suddenly burst like a dam. Once she started, she couldn't be stopped. "We were just playing, I was only gonna pretend! I swear it was an accident, but now her whole life is changed! She was supposed to have a choice - is Carlisle going to hate me? Ohmigod, Esme, even? I can't believe I did that! How could I have done that?! I am a monster… I really am a monster, aren't I?"

"Stop, Nessie, shush," I scooped her onto my lap. "Stop it. You're having a know Juliet loves you more than anything, you're a sister to her. She'll understand. Even if it takes a little time - and nobody else will hate you. Right, Seth?"

"Of course," Seth furrowed his brow. "Ness, s'fine. No one's gonna be mad."

Tears continued to fill Nessie's eyes, but she fell silent.

Juliet POV

I was dying, and that was a certain thing. I could only see stars falling under my heavy eyelids. I couldn't hear a thing.

I thought of the people I loved, Seth, Renesmee, my parents, Jacob, my other siblings. I saw their beautiful faces, but I couldn't hold on.

I was back in my mom's bedroom. Erica was tugging on my tiny arm, yanking me away. Blood stained my hands - was I bleeding? My mom laid there, blood replacing her pretty features. An unidentified man next to her.

I saw flashing police lights. I saw the insides of unfamiliar homes, heard slammed doors. I felt my weak, childish hands let go of her for the last time as my sister was dragged away. My head hit concrete, once or twice. Hands that were supposed to bring kindness only brought pain. I suffered it, I took it. I took it and I waded through it towards the light of every single sunset.

I made it. I made it to the very last sunset. Nessie loomed over me, face lit with laughter. Her lips grazing my throat as the room turned orange, streaked from the sun dropping behind the trees. I closed my eyes and fell backwards into death.

Okay, ouch. Wasn't this supposed to be easy? Well, it hurt, and it was loud. I opened my eyes to tell Death to quiet down. My eyes met two familiar dark ones.

"Seth?" I asked. "What are you doing h-ouch!"

"Jules, you're awake!" He cried. Why was Seth crying?! Oh, I was supposed to be dying. But I couldn't remember why. Come to think of it, I didn't really feel like it. All I could see was Seth's beautiful face hovering over mine.

"Hey, I love you," I told him. His eyes widened.

"I love you, Juliet," a dorky grin lit up his face. Okay, now we've established that. I winked at him and turned my face. A very nervous pair of chocolate brown eyes met mine.

"Okay, hi, Ness," I groaned. Why was everyone so damn close to my face?

"Juliet, I'm so sorry, I-" Nessie babbled.

"Can we not crowd my patient?" Carlisle asked dryly. My friends skittered away. "How are you feeling, Juliet?"

"Uh," I squinted. "Not great, Dad. Okay, I'm starting to feel better, but weird."

"Any pain here?" He asked, putting pressure on my abdomen. My skin felt different. Less vulnerable. Jesus, I was a tank. But why?

"No, no pain," I looked down at myself. I was less tan than I was this morning, more like cream. My head felt clear, everything had a scent and a sound and a sight. I could see everything.

"Okay, okay," I sat up fully now. "Someone better tell me what in the Hell went down here because my body is doing all sorts of freaky crap!"

Nessie POV

Juliet was handling the news better than expected. Once we explained how it was possible and unintentional, she turned to me with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," I cast my eyes to the floor.

Juliet POV

"Are you freaking kidding me right now, Renesmee Carlie Cullen?!" Juliet raised her voice. "Don't you see?! You've given me everything I could have wanted. I get immortality. I get to keep my human side, Renesmee. I can stay with Seth. You're my freaking hero, Ness! Christ on a cross, I could KISS you right now!"

"You aren't… mad?" She peeked at me hopefully. I shook my head, throwing my arms open wide. Nessie threw herself into them. She didn't feel as hot as she used to feel. We were the same temperature now. She smelled like herself but with a sweeter edge. Upon further exploration, Seth and Jake both smelled a little dusky and woody, but not bad. Carlisle smelled like he usually did, but with Nessie's sweet edge multiplied. Interesting.

Carlisle kept trying to explain the doctor stuff to me, but Rosalie poured into the room with Emmett hot on her heels. It took half an hour to get them to relax and stop freaking out over me. Then my dad was able to explain that he wasn't sure what kind of crazy side effects could happen, so I'd have to have a full checkup every week for, like, the next million years.

Then comes the question of the Volturi. We don't want to let them know that we have the ability to create hybrids. That's just a huge 'no' as far as we're concerned.

We decided to take things one day at a time. After all - we had forever.


	19. Joy

_**Part Three - Flight**_

 _To you, the reader, without whom I would have no reason to continue. You all inspire me and give me the energy to do what I do every day._

 _One misstep, you're mine_  
 _And you better stay clever if you wanna survive_  
 _Once you cross the line_  
 _You'll be wishing you would listen when you meet your demise  
_ _ **\- Monsters, Ruelle**_

 _Chapter Nineteen - Joy_

Edward POV

Charlie and Juliet had made leaps and bounds since they were both changed. Charlie, unexpectedly, took it in complete stride. Perhaps we should have given him more credit when he was a human - he wasn't weak. He never was.

Charlie's gift was discovered by Jasper. We did a test, carefully introducing him to Juliet and Renesmee. When Jasper was sensing his emotions - there was only happiness at seeing his granddaughter.

We did another series of tests after that, eventually exposing him to human blood from the blood bank. He looked at it with distaste. We didn't know how this was possible, a vampire that didn't thirst for human blood. Bella threw a fit when she found out. She claimed her venom was defective and that she really was a freak.

Emmett's theory made more sense. Charlie protected humans for a living, ever since he was young. That was such an integral and serious part of his existence that when he changed, it multiplied. He was now unable to want to harm a human. As he was an avid fisherman and enjoyed meat, he seemed to like the animal blood diet more than most of us.

Renesmee was over the moon when Charlie moved in with us. A little embarrassed that one more person would hear her sneaking into Jake's room at night, but still overjoyed.

Renesmee POV

"Hold still, will you?" Rosalie ordered Juliet. "If I mess up, you're gonna get mad."

"I can't help it, I'm antsy!" Juliet protested. Rosalie snipped her long hair evenly. I swept up the discarded locks and dumped them in the kitchen trashcan.

"You're done," Rosalie rolled her eyes with a laugh. Juliet flew off the stool, calling out a thanks before disappearing upstairs. Juliet was totally nervous to get back to school. I just shook my head. There was nothing to be scared of, except for people noticing the sudden shift in her appearance.

Including her rapidly growing hair. A fun hybrid thing was that our hair grew like the dickens. She looked pretty similar to when we left, only she was paler and her features a little more defined. I wouldn't say she was "more beautiful" than before she changed. She was attractive then and attractive now.

Once we were all ready, we chose our preferred methods of transportation. Outside it was dreadful and damp. Thankful that I never got cold, I hopped on the back of Jake's bike while Juliet joined Seth.

We'd waited around two weeks to bring Juliet back to school. She went through "human training" with the others because she had to get the hang of not acting like she had above average strength, speed and abilities. We also had to test her blood resistance - thankfully, though, she didn't actively thirst.

I'd been going to school in the meantime. The students didn't typically dare to ask where Juliet was. The teachers, however, were another question. When they asked, we would coolly answer that it was a simple case of pneumonia and that she was recovering well.

In the school parking lot, we dismounted from the bikes and removed our helmets in one fluid motion. Students began to whisper almost immediately, huddled together like farm animals. Juliet grabbed Seth's hand and I grabbed Jacob's - I could confidently say he was my boyfriend now, and wasn't subtle in that fact.

We strode confidently into the building together. Juliet's newly added grace made it even better. I had to admit, I was secretly having fun.

Harper was walking down the hallway with Lewis. Juliet straightened her chin and kept walking along with us as though Harper were a stranger, not interesting enough for a second glance. Lewis, however, broke forward and threw himself excitedly at her.

"Jules, oh my god!" He wrapped her up in a big hug. "I heard you were sick, and people have been saying things. You look so pale, are you sure you're okay to be here?"

"I'm fine," Juliet snuggled into his neck. "I missed you, buddy. I'm so sorry for not calling, I just thought… Well, I'm so happy to see you."

"I understand," Lewis nodded, taking a step back and looking her over. "Well, you look good, anyways. Love the new clothes. They really suit you."

"Thank you," Juliet glanced across the hall at Harper, who was fuming. "You might want to get back before he causes a scene. I'll text you, we can hang out."

"Certainly," Lewis smiled, his eyes apologizing for Harper's attitude. "Good seeing you. Renesmee, Jacob, Seth."

Lewis nodded a friendly greeting to us before spinning on his heel and loping back to Harper. We resumed walking, Harper chewing his friend out audibly in the background.

Class was boring all day. Juliet got the warm welcome back from all our teachers, less from the students. After the last class, we were accosted by Amber.

"I was wondering when you'd show your nasty face around school," Amber snapped. "Pneumonia? Seriously? Pregnant, more like. Who's the baby daddy? The entire Cullen family?"

"Amber, for once in your life can you act like you've got an ounce of damn sense in you or is that too much to ask?" Juliet snapped. "What the hell is with this weird obsession you have over my family? My brothers and my dad, Amber? Really? If you want to fuck them so bad go ahead and try but then you'll be dealing with their girls and trust me, darling, they're a lot more ruthless than I am."

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Amber yelled, red in the face. People were stopping and staring in the middle of the hallway. "You're just a whore and you have STDs and nobody is ever going to love you!"

"I love you, Juliet," Seth kissed the top of her head.

"I love you, Princess," I kissed her cheek. Jake threw his arms around the three of us.

"And I love you guys," Jake crowed. We laughed and walked through the doors of the school, out into the overcast parking lot. We left Amber behind. It didn't really matter what she had to say - it never did.

Author's Note: This chapter is horrifyingly short and I apologize. I just had to get this first part of Flight out so I can REALLY get into the plot that I have planned for this. I'm so excited to see how you all react.

There's MUCH more in store for Volume II and Volume III. The world is changing, folks. That's all I can say now. I'll probably be really sappy and emotional when Cliff's Edge ends. And then excited and crazy when the next installment begins. Rinse and repeat. - Eli xx


	20. Shadows of Rain

A/N: You guuuys, I'm really excited. The sequels and spinoffs to this series are staring to take shape! New characters are being born in my head. I'm sorry if my writing isn't so great right now, today I broke up with someone I love very much. So I'm a little sad even though it was the right choice. We're still friends, things are just different now. But now I'm also open to live my life and experience things! Love, Eli xx

 _Chapter Twenty - Shadows of Rain_

 _Bella POV_

Spending time getting to know my dad better and really letting him understand who I was could possibly have been the best gift I'd ever received, next to my little miracle baby. Every day we spent time together, rehashing old stories, telling him what really happened over the last years.

He was shocked, upset, and felt guilty for not realizing what had been happening under his nose for all that time. Generally, though, we worked towards building a solid relationship. We hunted together frequently, not because we needed it, but because it helped us bond and was a fun way to get along.

He got on thick as thieves with the rest of the family. I didn't trust his abilities yet to take Renesmee hunting, but they found other ways to hang out. He taught her things about human life that we didn't know, since we'd never experienced life as an adult human. Nessie, in turn, taught him about vampire things. He and Juliet got on unexpectedly well - for two completely unconnected people, they managed to find a ton of things in common.

He was still my dad. He still watched the game every time a team he liked was playing, still even went fishing at the lake just outside of town. Catch and release, of course. He still kept my husband on his toes.

I looked at my family and I couldn't be happier. I was so proud of my Renesmee, studying under Carlisle and thinking of her career rather than falling back on the fact that she was rich and immortal. I was proud of Jake, who always took care of Nessie. Lately he'd relaxed and stopped being the overbearing imprint. He let her, you know, take two steps by herself.

Juliet had gone from being a shy, closed-off, zero-confidence child to a strong, willful, confident woman. She became like the little sister I never had. She did kind of remind me of Renee at times, with her optimism and casual acceptance of everything.

Alice was bursting with joy at all times - something was obviously happening in her vision world. Jasper was simply drunk off the happy atmosphere, swaggering around and cracking jokes. I'd never seen him so comfortable, relaxed.

Rose seemed slightly forlorn and worried at times lately, but she just smiled if you asked her about it. She and Emmett spent a lot of time alone these days.

In November, Carlisle called a family meeting. We sat around the table, exchanging glances before Carlisle spoke.

"Recently, I've come into contact with a vampire named Tatiana," Carlisle said. "She is a good friend, who reached out to me through Nahuel. You see, Tatiana is interested in vampire genetics and biology. She knows of my… odd practice in being a doctor, and requested that I join her at a university to study genetic sciences."

Esme just smiled. She obviously already knew, seeing as Carlisle told her everything.

"Now, I'll have to resign at the hospital, and depending on where my schooling is to take place, I may have to move. You are welcome to come with me, but it is far from my intention to split or tear our family. I don't have to do this if there's anyone who opposes," Carlisle looked around the room.

"I think I speak for all of us when I say we support you, Carlisle," Edward said, squeezing my hand. "But why are you so interested in studying our genetics?"

"Many reasons," Carlisle smiled fondly. "I want to make sure that Juliet and Renesmee are able to live their lives healthily and know how to help them if anything goes wrong. The vampire biology world is seriously lacking in enlightenment. I want to kickstart a medical vampire revolution - there's a lot we simply don't know and I'm intending to discover it."

"You can tell them the other reason, Carlisle," Rosalie said serenely from her seat. "I don't mind."

"Ah, yes. Well, if you're sure," Carlisle paused. "I can't make any promises but I'm also going to look into a way to make reproduction possible for vampires."

A shockwave went through the room, missing some of us who already knew. It hit me hard and my hand automatically flew to my stomach - just on reflex, like I did so much during my pregnancy and slightly after the birth.

Would I dare hope to ever have another child with my perfect Edward? Rosalie obviously believed it. Esme just seemed content.

"I have rough ideas and will work quite avidly with Tatiana," Carlisle continued. "This is also a matter near and dear to her, as she never had the chance to have a child as a human."

"Are we going to meet this Tatiana woman?" Charlie piped up.

"She's on her way here from South America," Carlisle told him before addressing the whole family. "We're going to look at schools and programs and then decide the housing situation."

"Where you go, we go," Jasper announced. The rest of us confirmed his statement.

"I'm proud of you, Dad," Juliet said. They shared a smile.

Over the next several days, school seemed to be taking a toll on the girls. They constantly came home complaining, begging to be homeschooled.

"It's just so monotonous," Renesmee shouted, slapping her hands over her eyes. "The teachers are flakes!"

"The student body is seriously lackluster," Juliet added. "We're only in public school to develop us socially but there is nothing to be gained with these people!"

"It's not so bad!" I laughed at them, pulling a brush through Nessie's hair. "Sit still, love."

"It is so bad," she sat down in front of me, allowing me to brush the tangles out of her hair.

"Your aunts and uncles have been going to school over and over again for decades," I reminded her. "They hardly complain."

"Okay, no," Nessie shook her head. "Mom, seriously, once I'm finished, I'm not coming back. That's it. You guys can go, there's no way in hell I'm ever going back."

"I second that statement," Juliet raised a hand. I just laughed and put the brush on Nessie's bedside table.

"Teenagers," I kissed the top of my daughter's head and left the room. Edward was waiting in the hall with a crooked grin on his face.

"It's hard the first two times," he told me, wrapping his arms around my waist. "Remember when she was begging us to be allowed into school?"

I nodded with my head pressed against his chest. "Where did the time go, Edward?"

"In the blink of an eye, you'll be a hundred and nineteen years old," Edward kissed my forehead. "Remembering when Juliet just joined us and our Carlisle went off to school, and Nessie was throwing fits over her own education."

"And I'll wonder where the time went."

"Yes, exactly. But there is no use in standing here worrying over the time passing," he dropped his voice low. "That's how the time escapes you. I can think of a better way for us to spend this time."

I definitely caught his drift.

Juliet POV

"So, what's been going on with Harper?" I asked, taking a long sip of my coffee. Lewis and I were sitting inside a warm cafe that we used to visit together all the time before things changed.

"He's determined to defame you," Lewis rolled his eyes. "He's been spouting slander to everyone who'll listen. You're lucky, though, a lot of people don't believe what he's saying. It's gotten to the point that everyone just says he's a crazy, lying, jealous ex. You've actually got some fans."

"Weird," I looked down at the table. I never meant for any of this to happen. It hurt deeply that Harper hated me so much, after all the good times we'd had together. I wish I could have explained the imprint to him.

"Hey," Lewis said softly. "Listen, don't worry about it. The three of us were never gonna stay together forever. That Seth kid is really something special."

"He really is," I smiled into my drink. "I miss you, Lewis."

"Miss you too," Lewis grinned crookedly.

"You wanna come over tomorrow, hang out with us after school?" I asked. "Seth and Jake have some pa- er, some cousins and friends coming over so it'll just be us and Nessie."

"I'd like that," Lewis said. "I'm sorta drifting away from Harper. I love him, but he's just a bully now."

"Think he'll spill your secrets if he realizes you've ditched him?" I asked, my heart squeezing. There were things about Lewis that only Harper and I knew.

"That's just a risk I have to take," Lewis said grimly.

Renesmee POV

"Tatiana will be here on Saturday," Carlisle said. "She just had to finish up with Nahuel and his sisters."

"Lewis is coming over tomorrow," Juliet reminded everyone. "So best behaviour, please!"

She threw a deliberate look at Emmett, who just batted his eyelashes.

"Oh, and some of the pack is coming tomorrow," Jake announced. "We'll mostly hang out in the woods or something."

"Yeah, there's some new members," Seth looked at Jacob. "Including girls."

"What?" I gasped. "Wait, explain! Seth, explain!"

Seth laughed as I bounced on the couch, tugging his sweater.

"Okay, there's twin girls named Stella and Fiona Tanner," Seth explained. "We didn't think they were gonna phase, but they did not too long ago. Leah's over the moon, actually. She's mentoring them."

"That's great!" Juliet grinned. "I'm glad Leah's not alone."

"Yeah, me too," Seth looked down at his lap. A dent formed between his brows. Juliet's face softened and she reached out, putting her hand in his. It was such a simple, silent gesture, one that I'd seen my older family members do a million times. I wish I could have taken a picture. They didn't need to speak words, they just had to simply touch one another and that spoke for them.

I realized with a flutter that Jake and I were like that.

Juliet POV

Nights like these were my favorite ones. The rain beat down relentlessly on the roof, but I was warm. Snuggled up in my bed, Seth's limbs loosely entangled with my own. His strong, slow heartbeat contrasted my own hummingbird tempo, creating a song with the rain and our soft breathing.

"I never thought I'd get this," Seth murmured against my hair. I opened my eyes.

"Get what?" I whispered back.

"Both of us, immortal," he told me. "But you're warm. You still blush all the time, your heart beats. And I don't have to worry about leaving Jake and Nessie while we age."

"Can you believe that just a few months ago I was faced with choosing your love or immortality?"

"And now you have both."

"I still sleep, though not as much as I used to," I smiled into his skin. Nessie and I both slept, on average, five hours a night. She told me that as she got older, she needed less sleep.

We breathed into silence for a while before I spoke again.

"I've been thinking about Erica lately," I told him. His lashes brushed my neck as he blinked, sending tiny lightning bolts shooting across my skin.

"Yes?"

"Just wondering how she is, that's all."

"I hope she's doing okay," Seth said earnestly. "But if she's anything like you, she must be alright."

"Thanks, Seth," I smiled, watching the shadows of the rain, cast by the moonlight, sliding down the wall. I wanted to think something poetic about how it looked, and then say it to Seth, but honestly it just looked cool.

"Babe, the rain looks really cool," I whispered. He was quiet for a moment.

"It really does."


	21. Impossibility

_Chapter Twenty One - Impossibility_

 _Juliet POV_

"Lewis, Lewis, Lewis!" I danced around on my tiptoes. "Hurry up!"

Lewis shook his head at me, pulling his books out of the rusty locker. I stopped dancing long enough to trace the heart we'd carved in it with my pocketknife last year. Lewis and Julie, best friends forever.

"Time to go!" I chirped. He shut his locker, and the moment the padlock clunked shut, I was dragging him down the hall.

"We can take Alice's car home, her and Jasper will drive us," I told him, matter-of-factly. "You can meet my uncle Charlie!"

"You have an uncle," Lewis cried out, his eyes going misty. "Oh my god, Julie, the casual way you said that. I just… I'm so happy you found a family."

"Me, too," I grinned. "Now, hurry your cute little butt up!"

We bolted out of the school, into the slick parking lot. I pretended to pull my jacket around me, even though I wasn't cold. Lewis was immediately shivering despite the thick grey cardigan he wore.

Alice and Jasper were waiting for us, leaning against the black Mercedes. Jasper had his arms folded, the blue-white veins sticking out. My best friend's face lit up red.

"Is everyone in your family so goddamn attractive?" He whispered, taking in the sight of my siblings. Alice and Jasper shared a grin, having heard it.

"Yes, they are, and so am I," I stuck my tongue out. He pushed it back in my mouth with a roll of his big brown eyes.

"Really mature, Julie, honestly," Lewis muttered. I introduced him to Alice, who hugged him, and Jasper, who kept a respectful distance. Conversation flowed easily on the way home.

"So, Lewis, how did you meet Juliet?" Alice asked, looking into the rearview mirror. I shared a grin with him.

"We met when we were, what, twelve?" Lewis reminisced. "Oh, back then, Julie had a huge crush on me. She thought I was a real life Harry Potter."

"Oh, shut up, you liked me back!" I shoved him. "We held hands at the school dance, and he looked green."

"It was just the lighting," Lewis protested, inspecting his nails. "I was always Mr. Suave."

"Right, and then there was the time you sneezed on my face."  
"In the treehouse!" Lewis clapped a hand over his heart. "Those were the days."

"And then Harper came along," I looked out the window. "Hey, we're here!"

"Jeez, Julie, you didn't mention you lived in a castle," Lewis muttered as we got out of the car. I grabbed his hand and led him up the stairs to the porch.

Some unfamiliar people were sitting on the deck furniture, looking varying degrees of uncomfortable. Nessie poked her head out the front door.

"Lewis, come with me!" She grabbed his hand. "I want you to try these brownies Esme made."

I waved them inside, excusing myself to walk across the porch and meet the strangers.

"…And this is my imprint, Juliet," Seth grabbed my hand. "Juliet, you remember Embry. This is Stella, Fiona and Spencer."

"Holy shit, Juliet," Embry said, a tad bluntly. "You look like a freakin' supermodel suddenly. You were cute before, totally, but damn. Vamp genes, huh? Can't believe you turned. Gonna be a legend for sure - I'm thinkin' of calling it the 'Almost Forbidden Love of Seth and Juliet'."

"Really dodged a bullet, yeah. It's nice to see you, Embry," I smiled before looking at the newcomers. "And it's nice to meet all of you."

"Stella, Finn and Spence just phased for the first time recently," Seth explained, gesturing to two young-looking girls with identical sheets of black hair and dark, mischievous eyes. They looked a lot like Jake's sister, Rachel. He mentioned having cousins, maybe these girls were related.

"Nice to meet ya," Fiona, or Finn for short, winked at me. The boy, Spencer, just chewed his lip in silence. He looked about fifteen, his hair cropped short like Seth's. My face softened. The change was always really hard on new wolves.

"Well, welcome to the pack," I told them. "My human friend, Lewis, is inside. He doesn't know about any of this, so I'll keep him out of the way."

"You have human friends?" Stella piped up for the first time. She stared at me from under her bangs.

"Up until September, I was just a normal human," I folded my arms. "Lewis is family to me."

"You're lucky, we had to ditch our friends," Spencer said.

"I know, and I'm really sorry about that," I sighed. "This world isn't easy, but it's our world now."  
"We're supposed to be mortal enemies," Stella pointed out. "So why are we on your porch?"

"That's the thing, Stella," I said with a slight bite in my voice. "We aren't mortal enemies. Seth and Edward are best friends. Jake and Bella? Best friends. Emmett and Seth and Jake? Yup, best friends. Plus, I'm half vampire and my soul mate is a wolf. Can everyone stop buying into that old crap and get over themselves?"

"Okay, feisty," Finn laughed. "Damn. I like you already."

"Good luck winning any arguments, Seth," Embry commented. Seth just beamed.

"Okay, I gotta go. We'll be in my room," I kissed Seth's cheek. "Behave yourselves!"

As I opened the front door, I heard Embry say something along the lines of "pack mother" and "just like Emily". I grinned to myself and went to find Nessie and Lewis.

I found them in the kitchen, eating brownies and chatting to Esme.

"Talking smack about me, Lewis?" I asked, playfully shoving him.

"When am I not?" he responded cavalierly.

"C'mon, let's go up to my room and hang out," I snorted. I kissed Esme on the cheek and led Lewis out to the living room. The pack was just walking in together. Finn and Stella parted, leaving Spencer staring at the two of us.

He was seriously just watching us, slack jawed. Okay, was it seriously so shocking that I was friends with a human? What was this kid's issue?

"Jesus, Spence," Seth groaned. "Jules, can you go upstairs?"

I grabbed Lewis's hand and just about dragged him upstairs. I slammed the door of my room a little too eagerly.

"Okay, what is going on?" Lewis demanded.

"Nothing?" I avoided his gaze.

"Juliet," Lewis whispered. "Is Seth in a gang?"

I couldn't help it, I burst out laughing. "Seth is not in a gang!"

"Then what the hell do call that scene downstairs?" Lewis put his hands on his hip.

"Lewis, as much as it is killing me to hide this from you, my best friend, I can't tell you. It isn't my secret," I sat on the bed. "I'm sorry."

"I understand," He sat down next to me. "Can you just assure me that you're safe?"

"I'm safe," I told him softly. "More safe than I've ever been."

"That's all I need."

Muffled voices came from downstairs. I knew Lewis couldn't hear them clearly, but I could.

"It's nothing to be ashamed of," Seth was saying.

"I didn't imprint," Spencer's voice was like acid.

"We're your pack, Spencer, you can't lie to us. Just wait till Jake gets back," Seth pleaded.

"I DIDN'T IMPRINT ON A BOY!" Spencer yelled. Lewis furrowed his brow. He'd obviously heard that part.

"It doesn't matter, Spence," Finn soothed. "We aren't judging."

"There's nothing to judge! I'M NOT GAY!" Spencer yelled.

"Cool it, Spencer," Seth commanded. "You're losing control!"

The door slammed. I heard paws tearing across the grass.

Lewis gave me a weird look.

"What's imprinting, Julie?" Lewis asked. My heart was about to beat out of my chest. Spencer had imprinted. On Lewis.


	22. The Edge

A/n: Hey, guys :) Not my best chapter today. I've been preoccupied and I'm starting to feel sick + the emotional stress. I'm dealing with some sad things but I'll be okay! I wanted to start this off with some good news so here's the news: After this story finishes, I have spin-offs planned for those who enjoyed the story! Like the story of Lewis and Juliet's early days + what really happened to Erica, not to mention the wolf twins, Lewis and Spencer! Just things that don't fit in this story. Hope everyone's well and I'm here for those who aren't. Love Eli x

 _Chapter Twenty Two - The Edge_

 _Juliet_

I put on a movie for Lewis. Of course, I pretended to watch with him, but my mind was elsewhere the entire time. I couldn't tell you anything that happened in the movie.

Sooner or later, Spencer would have to come to terms with his imprint. Then, he'd tell Lewis, and Lewis would freak out and then have to come to terms with that.

It's not like Lewis would care about the fact that Spencer was a guy. Lewis was very comfortable in his bisexuality. The problem would be that, suddenly, Lewis would be an imprint, the first male imprint. Lewis would learn about the legends, learn about me and my family.

I was torn. Selfishly, I wanted Lewis to be part of my world. I wanted to be able to complain to my best friend about stupid wolves and stubborn vampires. I wanted to show off my abilities as a hybrid, or confess my worries. Reasonably, I knew this would affect Lewis. He was always a boy who saw reason, not fantasy. It would be too much for him to take. Not to mention that he and Spencer didn't even live close to each other. Spencer couldn't leave Forks and there was no way Lewis's mom would let him just up and move out of Oregon.

Spence was like, fifteen. It would be horribly selfish to ask him to transfer into Jake's pack, away from his family, his friends and his native land. But it seemed we had no choice in the matter. Why did the powers above put Lewis and Spencer together?

I had a few choice words for those powers.

After Lewis went home that night, with Spencer nowhere to be seen, Seth burst into my room.

"I mean, can you believe it?" Seth asked.

"I can't."

"A boy!"

"Seth," I warned. "Are you more worried about the fact that Spencer imprinted on another boy, or the fact that they plausibly can't be together."

A look of horror crossed his face. "No - Jules, I'm not worried about Spencer imprinting on a boy. It's never happened before, of course, I'm sure there's been gay wolves who just didn't end up imprinting. I'm just worried about the Elders and… Does Lewis even like boys?"

"Does Spencer?"

"Yeah," Seth sat on the bed. "He tries real hard to hide it, but the pack mind, you know. He keeps thinking about this boy he had a crush on. We're trying to tell him he doesn't have to be embarrassed, but still."

"He needs time," I took Seth's hand. "It must be hard to find out you're living in a supernatural world that nobody knows about. He probably feels even more isolated now."

"You're right," he groaned. "Man, I need some sleep. He'll come around, won't he?"

"He's got no choice," I stood up. "I'm gonna go take a shower. You heading to bed?"

"Yeah, I'm beat from training the pups," he rubbed his face. "I'm so glad I'm not alpha."

"Okay, I'll join you in a bit," I leaned down and kissed him softly.

As I expected, he was sleeping by the time I crawled into bed. I snuggled into his side and joined him in the dream world.

Nessie POV

"I missed you," I whispered into the darkness. Jake kissed my jaw hungrily, trailing kisses down my neck.

"I missed you, too," he told me. "I hate training. I like my small pack."

"Nice of you to do a favor to Sam," I squeezed him. He just snorted.

"Guess I missed some pretty important pack drama today," Jake said. "Of course it's only interesting when Seth's on babysitting duty."

"I didn't know it was possible," I admitted. "I know they'll probably end up happy together but I can't help but feel horrible for them now."

"All we can do is be there for him," Jake sighed heavily, rolling onto his back. "We're his family, his brothers and sisters."

We drifted to sleep side by side, our wrists lightly pressed together. Gradually over the last few months, we'd begun to sleep farther apart. No longer intertwined in impossible ways. It didn't mean we were emotionally distant - I think, in fact, it meant the opposite. We didn't need the physical contact to feel the emotional closeness. We were secure in the fact that nothing could break us apart. Gone were the days that we would cling to one another. Now, we simply existed together.

And I'd never slept so well.

Juliet POV

That morning, I went for a run in the forest with Nessie. It was brisk out, the morning fog covering the trees and making the rocks slick. Of course, being hybrids, we weren't bothered by the cold. The mist was actually refreshing, creating a soft dew in our skin and hair.

"How are you doing lately?" Nessie wrapped an arm around my shoulder as we stood on a cliff, overlooking the forest.

"I'm happy," I told her. "The winter weather always gets me down, but s'not so bad with everyone around."

"It's been a crazy few months," she lamented, looking up into the sky. "I constantly feel like I'm hanging on the edge of a cliff, waiting to either fall or get pulled up. Like something could happen and so easily make me lose my grip."

"I get it," I hugged her waist. "Hey, Tatiana is coming to meet us today. Do you think she and Carlisle will really be able to give Rose and Emmett a baby?"

"Carlisle would give Rosalie the world," Nessie said solemnly. "He won't stop trying until he gets her that baby."

A long silence stretched between us.

"Do you think… No, nevermind, it's stupid," Nessie looked down at the damp rock beneath us.

"Tell me," I grinned. "It's probably far from stupid."

"Do you think we'll be able to have kids? With Jake and with Seth?"

I blew air up into the bangs that framed my face. Jeez, what a loaded question; although I did ask for it.

"I think Fate has a lot in store for us," was the only thing I could tell her.

"I just see myself as a mother," she admitted. "I want kids, I want to have a toddler clinging to my hip while we stand out the window. I want the bedtime stories, the lullabies, the screaming, the ups and downs. I want to send my kids to school and cry as I watch them grow up, get too old for the kid stuff. I want to be proud when they follow their hearts. You know?"

"I understand, although in a way I don't," I rested my head on her shoulder. "After my parents, as Erica and I watched their relationship fall apart and then they just died… I vowed never to have kids. Obviously someone who came from two people that were so fucked up would just follow their parents footsteps. When I imagined children, I saw scared kids as I fought with their dad. I saw myself trying to cover up bruises. I heard them ask, why is mommy crying? So no, I never really wanted them. But then Seth… There's just this goodness that he has. It's like a bright light, he's just so patient and understanding. He'd raise our kids so well. He makes me think that I can be good."

"You can break the cycle of abuse, Juliet," Nessie softly said. "You would make an amazing mother. You remind me of my mom, in a way. She didn't even want kids until I was conceived, and then her world changed. Bella's not a very lovey-dovey person, if you can believe it. But then I came along, and she showed me gentleness and compassion and affection. I know you'll be the same way."

"And if our kids turn into wolves?"

"Then they'll be the coolest wolf-vampire hybrids the world has ever seen, and most definitely the first," she giggled.

After a shower and some lunch, we sat together on the couch in the living room. My foot jiggled nervously as everyone turned to the sound of feet on the stairs. Carlisle opened the door, revealing a woman.

She wore a white dress with gold accents. Her skin was strikingly pale, complimenting the outfit. She had wide, doe-like eyes that would have been innocent looking if it weren't for the deep red color that stained them. Her hair fell in dark black sheets to her waist.

"Carlisle!" She cried out, embracing him. "It's so good to see you at last."

"And you, Tatiana," Carlisle smiled. "This is my family."

Tatiana scanned the room, smiling. Seth, Nessie and I were on edge. We couldn't see past the red in her eyes.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all," Tatiana smiled politely.

"My daughter, Juliet," he gestured. "Seth, Renesmee, Edward and Bella, my beautiful wife, Esme. My other children are out today, unfortunately."

"Quite alright," Tatiana was busy eyeing up Seth. I almost growled at her.

"And this is Charlie, Bella's father," Carlisle continued. Charlie shook Tatiana's hand warmly, barely noticing her vibrant eyes.

"We're going to look at schools today, yes?" Tatiana said. "I am so looking forward to working alongside you."

"Yes, we are," he confirmed. "We need to find a school that we both like, in a place densely clouded enough so that we don't risk exposure. And you're going to work on your diet, right?"

"Of course I am," Tatiana said with an airy wave of her hand. "I've been trying. There's slip-ups, every now and then. You know how it is."

"Yes," Carlisle said, although it was very clear that he didn't.

"Anyways, shall we go to your study?" Tatiana rested her hand on his arm. Esme's eyes tightened ever so slightly, but her welcoming smile remained in place. I admired her - if she had done that to Seth, I'd be baring my teeth.

"Yes, if you're ready to start."

"I'm ready, Carlisle."

Nessie's hand casually rested on my collarbone and an image flashed into my mind. It was a repeat of what Tatiana had just said. I giggled audibly while Edward sent us a warning look. Tatiana, however, took no notice of the interaction. Her eyes were on Carlisle. My Carlisle, and Esme's Carlisle. That was not going to fly, not in a million years.

When they went upstairs, we all turned to Edward. He stared evenly around the room.

"People's private opinions aren't our business," said Edward firmly. Nessie stuck out her tongue at him in defiance.

"That means she does like him," Seth breathed, softly enough so that it would be indecipherable from where Tatiana was.

"Seth's right," I lowered my voice in the same fashion.

"Not our business," Edward reminded us.

"Not like she has a chance against Esme," Nessie added. "Like, hello."

"Nessie's got a point," Seth told Esme. Esme just smiled bashfully and waved her hand.

"Oh, you kids, behave," she scolded, but she couldn't conceal her grin.


	23. Plans

A/n: If it seems a tad rushed, that's because it is. I'm really trying to wrap up the story so that we can move forward into volume two. The point of this volume was to establish Jules as a Cullen and bring her together with Seth, as well as introduce the new and improved Charlie, bring Nessie and Jake together, and kickstart Carlisle's new career as a vampire biologist. So only one or two chapters left of this until we're off on our new adventure! This has been SUCH a ride, but I won't get into my whole goodbye speech yet. It's not quite over yet. Love Eli xx

 _Chapter Twenty Two - Plans_

 _Juliet POV_

Time began to pass in a blur around the Cullen residence. It was a constant flow of activity - Carlisle and Tatiana had found a school here in Oregon. They often were running around doing homework and conducting experiments. As Tatiana's eyes turned gold, we warmed up to her. She flirted with Carlisle less, respecting her shaky position in the family.

Harper wasn't alone at school anymore. He seemed to have found a girl who tolerated his… odd personality. She, of course, sent me death stares in the hallway, clinging to Harper every chance she got. I just rolled my eyes and left the whole situation alone.

Pack members streamed in and out of the house. Winter vacation started, gearing up for Christmas. Lewis spent more and more time at the Cullen house - while Tatiana was away, because I didn't trust her around MY human - and began a friendship with Spencer. My heart swelled every time they had a blushing interaction. Lewis often laid on my bed, reading out loud texts from Spencer and asking how to reply. It was the cutest thing, and I was so proud of my best friend.

Jake and Nessie were inseparable - which would have been so annoying, having to share my soul mate with her boyfriend - but I loved Jake like a brother. The three of us plus Seth spent many hours together, shooting the breeze or escaping the constant dramatics of casa Cullen.

On Christmas morning, a layer of snow blanketed the house and surrounding forest. Seth carried me downstairs on his back, ridiculously excited for a supposedly grown man. Well, he was pretty much stuck at sixteen along with me. I let him have his fun.

I was secretly excited, too. This would be my first family Christmas since I was a child, and my first Christmas as a Cullen.

I was no longer Juliet Emilie Keat. That was a past life, a shadow that had given way to the light. Lewis was the only vestige from the time before which I clung to. I was a Cullen, through and through, in all but blood. Well, a little bit in blood now, because the experiment conducted by a very excited Carlisle showed vampire venom and Nessie's DNA flowing constantly through my body. So, we really were blood sisters.

Carlisle and Esme pulled me aside before I could join the rest of the family.

"We wanted to give you this in private," Esme said as we stood in the kitchen. They handed me a simple white box with a gold ribbon. I opened it and gasped.

Resting on the white satin inside was a beautiful silver locket with an intricate design. I recognized it from the cuff bracelets my brothers wore, the necklaces and various bracelets or rings that everyone else had.

"The Cullen crest," I said out loud, tracing the design. When I opened the locket, an engraved message read the words 'always in our hearts'. The photo was a little picture of myself, Carlisle and Esme from the first month I lived here.

"Thank you," I tried not to cry while Esme fastened it around my neck. It hung in the center of my chest, catching the light and gleaming proudly. I hugged my parents tightly.

Back in the living room, I bounced excitedly as Seth opened his gift from me. I'd labored over it for hours, trying to keep it a secret.

The first part of the gift was a leather journal and matching pen with a letter on the inside cover. The second part was a photo album of things we'd done, like the pillow fort we made in Forks, selfies we had taken while the other was sleeping, silly things like that. There was space to add more photos. The last part of the gift was a bracelet that Jake helped me weave.

Seth kissed me chastely, trying not to disturb my parents. I leaned into his side, beaming proudly.

Jake got Nessie, Seth, myself and himself matching friendship bracelets. He also got me a Quileute t-shirt and a snow-globe with a howling wolf in it. I laughed at that, promising him I'd put it on my desk next to my laptop.

Seth gave me a promise ring. I got emotional for the second time that day. He also got me a cute wooden box filled with little inside jokes between us.

Nessie and I had been learning knitting from Esme. As I had suspected, we'd both knitted each other presents. She made me a throw blanket for my bed in our favorite colors - her color being pink, and mine being green. I made her a grey sweater that said "PRINCESS" in big pink letters.

Bella and Edward got me a cute set of vampy-colored lipsticks as more of a joke, but I loved them anyways. From Alice and Jasper, I got a kit of bubble baths and bath bombs to remind me of the night my life changed - the one months ago, with the confession about my foster status and all that drama.

Emmett got me a sports t-shirt that said "Clearwater" on the back. I grinned, knowing he'd done it to embarrass me, and that we both knew I would wear it to school.

Rose got me a cute ankle bracelet that said "strength" on it. I knew it was a gesture of solidarity, a subtle nod to what we'd both been through. Emotional again, god damn it. She also got me, on a lighter note, some cute strappy heels with a matching black dress.

Tatiana, who was back in South America to spend Christmas with her best friend Huilen, left us all cute South American jewellry.

I was glad everyone liked the presents I'd got them - mostly sentimental things, like inside jokes. I got Emmett a beanie that said "Papa Bear" on it.

I didn't get all the inside jokes that passed between the older members of the family, like Edward giving Bella a stuffed lamb, and her giving him a stuffed lion. In summary, though, it was an amazing Christmas. Probably my best one yet, and I looked forward to thousands more.

Those of us who ate teamed up with Esme to make an awesome dinner. Spending time with everyone in the family was refreshing. We'd all drifted apart recently due to school or pack business or whatever.

Carlisle's graduation was coming up faster than expected. He and Tatiana were incredibly advanced, of course. Carlisle was like an excited little kid, conducting experiments left and right. It would have been annoying if it wasn't so incredibly adorable.

They graduated at the top of their class just after New Years. Alice threw a party, blasting music while the family danced and took photos.

We went back to school a week later. Harper's new girl, Jess, was back to throwing visual daggers at me. I just casually flashed my promise ring as my arm was linked with Seth's. I mean, how could she be so dumb? I was a wolf girl. And a vamp chick. Definitely wanted nothing to do with Harper, not anymore.

A week after school came into session, Carlisle and Tatiana said they had an announcement to make.

"A bouncing baby boy, maybe," Nessie muttered. She wasn't as accepting of Tatiana, thinking she still had her eye on Carlisle.

"We won't do this if anyone opposes, but we would like to move as a family to South America. We're on some very positive leads currently," Carlisle began confidently. "Some leads that perhaps would be best kept private."

"From the Volturi," Bella nodded. "Understandable, Carlisle."

"Hybrid research is sensitive, we don't know what we'll find until we find it. Perhaps that would be best kept under wraps for the time being," Carlisle agreed. "So, with your help, we'd like to design a compound in a remote place of South America, not too far from where Nahuel is living."

"Compound?" Nessie scrunched her nose. "What does that mean?"

"Like a closed-off village," Edward explained. "A walled-in section of land with independent electricity and the like."

"With our combined skills, we should be able to pull it off," Jasper mused.

"Of course, it will take time to draft and build. We'd also like Renesmee and Juliet to finish this year of school," Carlisle continued.

"And then no more, right? We'll be homeschooled?" Nessie asked eagerly, jumping up.

"Yes, you will be homeschooled."

"Yes!" Nessie crowed, pumping her fist in the air. "Carlisle, Tatiana, I will go anywhere alongside you if it means I don't have to go back to that awful place."

"Well, we've got Renesmee's vote," Carlisle pursed his lips, hiding a smile.

"Mine, as well," I added. Gradually, everyone else added their consent.

"Perfect, I'll remind you that this will be a whole team effort," Carlisle clapped his hands together. "I want us to create something we're proud of as a family."

"What shall we all do, Carlisle?" Esme asked, eyes gleaming. She was so proud of her mate and all the rest of us.

"Esme, you and Emmett are very proficient architects," Carlisle smiled. "When my son applies himself. You can handle architecture and interior design, if you like."

The two shared a fist bump.

"Rosalie, I know you've been interested in electricity and plumbing, things like that. Can you handle those, working alongside Esme and Emmett?" Carlisle turned to Rosalie. She smiled serenely and nodded.

"Alice, you and Edward can help me find a location," Carlisle told them. "Tatiana, you will be our conduit to Nahuel and his people."

"Jasper, I trust you'll handle the monetary affairs, legal affairs and budgeting?" Carlisle didn't need to ask, because Jasper lived and breathed that stuff, but he nodded anyways.

"Renesmee, Juliet, you two can apprentice under any group to develop your skills," Carlisle told us. "Bella, I know you've been into agriculture, so could you design some sustainable fruit and vegetable growth?"

We all nodded.

"Jacob, Seth, I'm aware you have pack duties, so I won't assign you anything," Carlisle said. "You can freely work on whatever you wish."

"This all sounds very great, Carlisle," Jasper said. "Should we start work today?"

"Yes, I hope you'll all remember to collaborate so we avoid clashing of plans," Carlisle reminded us. "I'll be in my study, working on the laboratory designs."

"Could I help you, Carlisle, or would I be in the way?" Nessie piped up. I knew she'd choose the geeky science stuff. What a cutie!

"I'd be honored to have your help," Carlisle told her. They made sure everyone else was set before disappearing into the office.

The rest of us fanned out to our favorite spots to work. It was time to begin.


	24. Justice

A/n: Hey, guys. So updates are a little slower lately. That's a combination of school kicking my ass and my personal life going to shit. I'm just having a lot of issues, all my friends are having issues with each other and I'm just so worried and it's stressing me out, and I lost my best friend because I'm just not able to be in love with him. So yeah, I'm just trooping through it. Hope you're all okay, if anyone's struggling you can always message me here or on my tumblr, magnuxs. I'm always always here to talk to anyone who needs it!

 _Chapter Twenty Four - Justice_

 _Renesmee POV_

The family worked tirelessly. Every day when we came home from school, we would drop our backpacks and get to work. I mostly spent my time alongside Carlisle, doing tasks for him and learning about the equipment needed to build a laboratory. Tatiana seemed to resent the time I spent alongside my grandfather. You know, MY grandfather?

Juliet took an interest in working with Esme, designing the interior things. One afternoon, they showed me the rudimentary plan.

"See, here," Juliet pointed at the drawing board, her hair tucked in a messy bun. She didn't even check if I was listening, she was completely lost in her plans. "We're going to build several homes, kind of like your cottage back in Forks. Everyone has their separate home, see, and then there will be a bigger house right here. That'll have a bigger kitchen, the lab, Carlisle's office, some guest rooms, see?"

Juliet traced her finger over the plan for the main house. "And then there's the pool - it gets really hot during the day, and then cold at night, so Esme let me put in a hot tub. We can put up string lights around it. Okay, see?"

"I see," I laughed. "This is really cool, Jules."

"Thanks," she beamed. "We added lots of windows and decks, so the nature of the place is integrated seamlessly. Isn't that great?"

"It's so great," I answered. "Like a permanent vacation."

"Exactly. We only had so much space, though. Look over here," she moved to the computer on the desk and waved the mouse. A 3D model of the land we purchased came to life.

"We planned a sort of pack house here," she showed me. "So it has a bedroom for Jake, Seth, and then spares for the rest of the pack when they visit. A big kitchen, too, and just a lot of space for the big guys."

"The vampires will stay out of there as much as possible so the pack feels welcome and easy," she continued to ramble. "Okay, now over here is the main house, and then right here is Bella and Edward's house. Your room is in there. Here's Rose and Em's, and then there's Alice and Jasper's. My room's in the main house, cause I still live with my parents."

"Perfect," I said. "What about when we get too old to live with our parents?"

"When we want some space, or our own lives, we can add more cottages. We have a lot of space, we just have to remember to be smart with it. See, there's the pools, and then there's Bella's farm. We mostly hunt, but you know I'm not a fan of blood, so we're growing food like fruits and veggies."

"Well, I see nothing wrong with it," I told her. "The weather's getting warmer, you want to go get drinks?"

We got a ride from Emmett into town. Juliet and I got these crushed ice drinks from the gas station, called Slurpees, which we'd become hooked on after Seth showed me the delight of sugary, soda-flavored slush in a cup.

We wandered around town. It was only April, but it was hot already. Across the street were two unwelcome faces.

Of course, Harper and Jess crossed the street deliberately to "bump into" us.

"So you're stalking us now?" Jess sneered. "Why can't you just get over Harper already?"

"Okay, you came over here, not the other way around," Juliet pointed out. "Also, I don't know if you noticed, but uh…"

Juliet pointed to the promise ring, prominent on her finger. "I'm very involved."

"Right," Harper snorted. "You're just trying to make me jealous."

"Of course she is, Harper," I told him very seriously. "I mean, because obviously you weren't jealous enough when you lost your marbles over Juliet existing within ten feet of another male. Obviously you weren't insecure enough when you felt the need to steal her phone and read her private conversations, and obviously you didn't care enough when you lied to everyone and spread photoshopped conversations."

"Harper didn't do any of that," Jess snapped, grabbing his arm. "Get away from us, you psycho bitches!"

"I will," Juliet said. "I'm going to go right home to Seth, and show him exactly how much I love him and don't regret leaving Harper for him. Bye, now."

We shoved past them, loping down the sidewalk together. In the background, Jess was shouting at Harper about something. Juliet just laughed and took a sip of her drink.

"That was interesting," I deadpanned. "You think they're going to try something at school?"

"Oh, most likely," Juliet nodded. "Who cares? We're leaving soon, anyways."

"End of June."

"End of June," she agreed.

I ended up being right - Harper did try something. Pretty soon, Juliet's phone was blowing up with text messages from Jess, Harper and a few of Jess's friends. They were even targeting me, now!

A few people who were on our side sent us the obviously falsified pictures Harper was attempting to spread again. This time, though, we knew exactly what to do about it.

"You girls ready?" Rosalie said. We nodded, putting on our saddest puppydog faces.

"EXCUSE ME!" Rosalie snapped, bursting into the office. The secretary jumped, a look of intense fear plastered onto her face as Rose stalked up to the counter, black high-heels clicking dangerously on the floor.

"I'd like to speak to Principal Nevin immediately," Rosalie said icily. "There's an incident."

"Y-yes, certainly, of course," the secretary picked up the phone. "John, I'm sending some students in to see you. Er, Rosalie Whitlock, Renesmee Cullen and Juliet Keat."

"Her name is Juliet Cullen," Rosalie growled. "Thank you very much."

Rosalie led us, straight-backed and chin high, into the principal's office. He motioned, a little nervously, for us to sit down. Rosalie chose to stand, crossing her arms.

"We're here today, Mr. Nevin, because of an unfortunate incident that has gone on too long," Rosalie announced. "I'd like to know why such an obvious case of bullying went unpunished or uninvestigated."

"Would you like to explain, Miss Whitlock?" Mr. Nevin folded his hands.

"Your student, Harper Moran, stole Juliet Cullen's phone several months ago and went through it. Then, he falsified photos of her and text conversations, choosing to spread them around school. This resulted in even teachers talking about her, so please, do not pretend you didn't know. Recently, with the help of his new girlfriend, Jessica Pettis and a group of her friends, they've started targeting my sister Juliet and now my other sister, Renesmee," Rosalie listed, giving him the vampire stare. "Would you like to see some of the disgusting images?"

"Miss Whitlock, we didn't know the extent of the incident, it seemed to be a mutual disagreement from both sides," Mr. Nevin scrambled. "We had no proof of the incident."

"No proof? Laughable," Rosalie snapped. "All you had to do was call in one student and they would show you proof. Better yet, call in Harper Moran and ask to see his proof. Oh, wait, you won't. You won't because his father is a donor, isn't he? And you wouldn't risk offending him. Well, Mr. Nevin, if Harper Moran, Jessica Pettis, Annie Christian, Lena Durham and Jenna Saint aren't thoroughly investigated and punished, you can assure yourself that my father, Doctor Carlisle Cullen, and mother, Esme Cullen, will be contacting our lawyers and the media, not to mention the police. This has been a case of cyberbullying, stalking and harassment. Thank you for your time."

Rosalie spun on her heel and motioned for us to get up. Juliet and I left the office, escorted by Rose, who kept a hand on each of our backs. Once we left the area, we dissolved into giggles.

"You scared him shitless, Rose," I wiped tears from the corner of my eye. "That was priceless."

"I wish we'd videotaped it," Juliet agreed. Over our heads, the PA system crackled to life.

"Excuse the interruption, would Harper Moran, Annie Christian, Jenna Saint, Lena Durham and Jessica Pettis please report to the office immediately. Thank you," the secretary said. We only laughed harder.


	25. Confession

A/n: Hell yeah, so it's the weekend! Meaning lots of time to write. I'm thinking one chapter left of this story!

To address anyone's questions about what will happen to Spence and Lewis, they likely will not be coming to South America. They're both sixteen and have families, you see, so they're going to have to figure out where to go from here. I have a few ideas, though, so worry not my dear children. Love from Eli xx

 _Twenty Five - Confession_

 _Renesmee POV_

Harper and his crew were most certainly punished. Harper was suspended for a week, and his in-school internet access was taken away for the rest of the year. Jess was also suspended for a week, and her little friends were only suspended for two days.

They were told that if they made any attempt to contact us with anything other than an apology, they'd be expelled. The only thing that saved Harper from being expelled or criminally charged was the fact that his dad was a donor to the school.

We all re-focussed on the work. Sadly, the whole family besides Juliet, Carlisle, Esme and myself flew out to South America to start construction. They switched all their courses to online courses - with permission from the school after a lot of coaxing from Carlisle. Juliet and I hung out with Lewis most of the time.

"I can't believe you guys are leaving me in June," Lewis exclaimed. "Like, really?!"

"We're sorry," I sighed. "Hey, though, how's it going with Spencer?"

"He said he has something to tell me, but he wants to do it in person," Lewis grinned. "I think he's going to ask me out!"

"That's great, Lewis!" Juliet and I shared a look. So, it would happen soon, then.

"He's coming up for a week to visit his cousin Jake, but you already know that," Lewis said. Okay, well, only partially true. Jake was in South America.

"Yep, for sure," I nodded. Juliet took an overly casual sip from her water bottle.

"I hope that before you move, you tell me what your big secret is," Lewis scolded her. "Seriously, Julie. I know you've been hiding something from me for months."

"'Course, yeah," Juliet mumbled. "We will."

June was fast approaching. On the morning of Spencer's arrival, Juliet and I were both nervous. The only person who was more of a wreck was Spence.

"He's gonna hate me!" Spencer paced across the living room.

"He won't hate you," I half-heartedly reassured him. A knock came at the door.

"Oh, God," Spencer dove behind the couch. "I can't do this, tell him I died."

"Spencer," I chided while Juliet opened the door.

"Hey, guys," Lewis came inside. "Uh, Spencer, why are you on the floor?"

"Fell," he mumbled, getting up. "Lewis, can we talk?"

"Of course," Lewis said. Juliet and I looked at each other. It was time.

Spencer POV

My hands were clammy. I wiped them on my denim shorts as I led Lewis onto the back porch.

"What's up?" Lewis smiled, leaning against the white painted bannister. I swallowed as I looked at his adorable dimpled cheeks. This was killing me.

"I have to tell you something, and you're probably going to freak out or punch me, or run away, and I'll understand if you do," I swallowed hard. Lewis raised his eyebrows.

"You have a boyfriend already," he deadpanned. I widened my eyes.

"No!" I told him. "It's not that."

"Girlfriend?"

"I don't like girls."

"Fair enough."

"Okay, so here goes," I swallowed again. "Uh, okay, so where I come from, in Forks, the Quileute people have all these stories."

"Okay?"

"Yeah, and basically, a really long time ago, there were these warriors who had these spirit forms. One time, a spirit warrior asked a wolf if they could share a body. So they did, and then after that, all the spirit warriors could transform into wolves. They used their wolf forms to defend against our enemies," I stammered along the story.

"That's really cool," Lewis said, but I could tell he was confused.

"After that, all their descendants could do it. It was a gene, passed down from father to son. Well, it went dormant, 'cause we beat our enemies. One day, our natural enemies came back. They're these people called the Cold Ones. They drink blood and have red eyes," I told him.

"Vampires?" Lewis said. "There's vampires in your legends?"

"Yeah, vampires," I nodded. "Well, these vampires who came to Forks were different. They had eyes that weren't red. They told the spirit warriors that they fed off animal blood only. A treaty was signed - they were allowed to settle in Forks as long as they never entered La Push and never bit a human. So the wolf gene became active, and when young men reached a certain age, they would phase. Just in case, you know."

"Right," Lewis seemed wary now. He didn't want to disrespect my culture, obviously, but he didn't believe me.

"Well, I didn't believe those stories until a few months ago," I told him. "I phased a little while before my sixteenth birthday. I got mad and then suddenly I was a wolf. So, I came here. Jake has his own pack, which includes Seth. Sam, my pack leader, suddenly got a whole bunch of new wolves, so he sent me and some others up here to get trained."

"You aren't serious," Lewis looked around like he was looking for a camera.

"Lewis, I am serious, and there's more you need to know," I pleaded.

"No, I don't believe you. I don't want to hear it. Is Juliet in on this?" Lewis crossed his arms. "It's not funny, Spencer."

"It's not a joke!"

"PROVE IT!" Lewis challenged. "Prove it, right now."

"Fine," I told him. "Promise not to run away, because even though I look dangerous, I won't hurt you."

"Fine," he snapped. "I promise. Go ahead."

I took off my shirt. Lewis threw up his hands.

"And 'proving it' requires taking your clothes off?" He snapped at me. "Really?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it does. Do you think my clothes will just change with me? No, they'd explode!" I snapped back. "Honestly, Juliet tells me you're so smart."

Lewis pouted. My heart clenched at how adorable it was.

"Turn around, I'm taking my pants off," I told him.

I was pretty sure of two things. One, that Lewis was in shock, and two, that Juliet would kill me if he died of a heart attack.

Lewis was sitting there, completely white, and completely sweaty.

"Lewis?" I knelt in front of him. "Are you okay?"

"Uh," Lewis blinked a few times. "You're a… you're a big fucking dog."

"Wolf," I narrowed my eyes. "I am."

"Okay," Lewis said. "Okay."

"There's more."

"Of course there is."

"You don't have to hear it now," I told him.

"I want to, go ahead," he sighed. "I'm okay."

"Alright. Okay, so there's this thing that's pretty rare that happens to wolf people. If they meet their soulmate, the person that they're destined to love, they'll do this thing called imprinting," I explained. Lewis frowned.

"That sounds familiar. Weren't you yelling about it once?"

"Yeah, when I imprinted," I said sheepishly.

"You said you didn't imprint on a boy, that you weren't gay," he continued to frown.

"I was in denial, because, um," my voice faltered and gave out. "I imprinted on you."

"What?" He leaned forward.

"I'm-printed-on-you," I whispered.

"What?"

"HE IMPRINTED ON YOU!" Renesmee bellowed from inside the house. A dull thud, and then the house shook.

"Ow, Juliet!" Renesmee yelled. "You didn't have to push me off!"

"You deserved it," Juliet snorted. "You were supposed to stay quiet."

"You imprinted on… me?" Lewis asked.

"It's like this, when you see them for the first time, your whole world changes. Suddenly, they're the one holding you to the earth. They're everything to you. Jake imprinted on Renesmee, Seth imprinted on Juliet. They'd do anything for each other. It's not like a choice thing, it's a destiny thing," my voice became stronger as I talked.

"So, we're like soulmates?" He furrowed his brow. I nodded.

"Made for each other. I'm the first wolf to ever imprint on a guy, though. So I felt like a freak, and I refused to believe I was gay. I ran away from Seth and Jake, but they were only trying to help. I said we were just imprinted as friends, but then we started to talk and… what I feel for you isn't in a friend way," I sighed.

"Wow," Lewis ran a hand through his curls. "Wow."

"I know it's a lot to take in," I admitted. "But there is more."

"Oh, just lay it on me," Lewis shrugged. "At this point, anything is possible."

"Okay, so that clan of vampires that set the ball rolling? There was seven of them. They settled in Forks, and assimilated with the humans. Nobody suspected a thing. They left after a few years though, because people would have noticed them not aging. When it was safe, they came back, 'cause they liked Forks. That's what made Jacob change eventually. The only vampire that wasn't mated was one of the boys. They went to school, posing as humans. The boy vampire fell in love with a human girl. They had a long, very dangerous romance, until they finally got married after she graduated high school. She was still a human when they got married. Well, they didn't know it was possible to have babies, but the girl became pregnant. She had a baby that was half-vamp, half-human. The vampires and werewolves almost went to war, because the vamps broke the treaty by creating the baby and biting the girl as she was dying from the birth," I rambled.

"Okay wait," Lewis held up a hand. "So, she knew he was a vampire?"

"Yeah, he told her before they started dating," I said.

"Okay, and they had sex when she was human?"

"Yeah, that was stupid 'cause it was really dangerous," I said. "Anyways, the baby was really strong and grew fast, so the wolves thought it was gonna be a monster and threatened war. The vamps didn't care, and bit the girl when the birth almost killed her. The baby ended up being really cute and nice. She didn't mean to hurt her mama, anyways, the pack was about to fight the Cold Ones when suddenly, a wolf imprinted on the baby. No, don't look at me like that, he wasn't in love with her. Imprints can be friends, or like family. It's not just love. So, if you kill someone's imprint, you essentially kill the wolf, too. The pack didn't go to war, and the baby girl grew up quickly into a beautiful, strong, sassy princess."

"Okay," Lewis said. "That's a pretty cool story?"

"Yeah, it happened about six or seven years ago," I shrugged. "Um, okay, you aren't getting it. So then, the vampires left Forks and moved around until they got to another place. See, the girl grew so fast that it looked suspicious. When she was six years old, she looked sixteen, and her growth slowed. She started going to high school and made a friend. That friend was also beautiful and sassy, and got accepted into the family. A wolf imprinted on her and she was in foster care, so she was adopted by Carlisle and Esme Cullen. Her name is Juliet."

"No," Lewis shook his head. "No, no, no! NO!"

"Yeah," I wrapped my arms around my knees. "The Cullens are vampires. Nessie's the hybrid baby."

"Fuck! I knew something was off, but holy crap! Wait, who are the Cullens, really? They aren't all related, are they?" Lewis demanded.

"Carlisle came first, he bit Edward first because he was lonely and Eddie was dying. Then, he bit Esme, cause she was dying and he fell in love with her. Then he bit Rosalie because she was also dying and thought that maybe Edward would fall in love with her, but they didn't like each other like that. Then, I think Emmett got bit. Alice and Jasper joined them, but they weren't bit by Carlisle, they were bitten by someone else, I just don't know who. Edward fell in love with the human Bella in 2006, and they got married and then Nessie was born," I said.

"Wow," Lewis blinked. "I mean, I'm not even surprised anymore, I just don't even care."

"So you won't care when I tell you that we found out hybrids are poisonous, because a few months ago, Nessie bit Juliet and Juliet turned into a half-vampire?"

Lewis fainted.


	26. Departure

_Chapter Twenty Six - Departure_

 _Juliet POV_

When Lewis woke up and had a drink of water, he was pretty mad at me for not telling him sooner, and madder at Nessie for not making me tell him.

We spent the rest of the day together, talking about our plans for South America and watching movies. Tentatively, Lewis and Spencer held hands during one of the movies. Nessie grinned at me, casually resting her palm on my cheek and showing me the time Seth and I used to awkwardly cuddle during movie times. It was jarring to see my human self laid up against Seth. I missed him so bad.

Lewis went home sometime after dinner. Spencer was giddy with excitement - a complete change from the closed-off, grouchy boy I used to know. As June barreled closer and more photos arrived of the quickly-forming compound, Spencer and Lewis went on cute little dates. They went for ice cream, watched movies, and then came the day that Spencer had to go back to Forks. I didn't know what happened as they were saying goodbye, but they both blushed furiously afterwards.

They continued going on video-chat dates all through May, until one day, Lewis showed up to the house panting like a dog.

"Lewis, did you run here?" I pulled the sweaty teenager inside. He nodded and fell onto the floor.

"Listen, Juliet, do you believe in the gods that we made up when we were kids?" He asked me, laying on his back in the white carpet. Nessie left to get him a glass of water.

"Yeah, of course," I sat cross-legged next to his head. "Why?"

"They've blessed me," Lewis said. "My mom's job is transferring her this summer, and they're letting her choose which branch to transfer to out of a list of options."

"What are the options?"

"The options are Portland, Seattle, or…" he pushed his damp curls away from his eyes. "Forks!"

"No way!" I jumped up.

"Yes way! They're paying for our travel and helping us buy a house!" He yelled from the floor. I danced around as Nessie shot back into the room with his water.

"That's so awesome, Lewis!" She laughed, handing him the glass. He took a long drink of water.

"The gods really exist," I stopped dancing and flopped back onto the couch.

Over the course of May and June, we studied for our exams. The house was too quiet without our siblings, without Jake and Seth. I could hardly fall asleep without Seth by my side. The only one walking on air was Lewis.

We all got ready for the move. The compound was just about finished. After exams were done, Nessie and I would catch a plane with Carlisle and Esme to Brazil. A helicopter, piloted by Alice, would take us to the forest and land at the helipad, and then we'd run to the compound. It was situated in a very remote part of the Amazon rainforest, which would be almost inaccessible to humans. In other words, perfect for us.

Carlisle and Esme were having trouble. Because of the summery weather, leaving the house was nearly impossible. It was rare for this part of Oregon, but the sun constantly beat down without cloud cover. To help, Nessie and I took over the grocery shopping.

Once the moving day came, nobody was ready. Nessie and I spent the day taking a million photographs of the house, the forest and the waterfall.

That evening, I packed my last bag. All my most important stuff went into this suitcase.

My three diaries, which I'd kept since I was thirteen. Two were full, I got a new one every year on my birthday. The first one was given to me by Erica, the last two I bought myself. A small photo album with pictures of my parents, Erica, and Lewis. I took the ones of Harper out. Erica's necklace, which she gave me a week before she ran away. My parents' wedding rings. Gifts from the Cullens.

A tear slipped down my cheek as I zipped up the suitcase. Not because I was leaving Oregon, or leaving North America. I was crying because I'd just put a summary of my existence into a suitcase. My life had been so bare until now. Lewis had been the only good thing. My heart ached, thinking of how we'd said goodbye yesterday. He was on his way to Forks by now.

The tears were also happy tears. I would move to South America with my family by my side. I'd eventually stop wondering about Erica, eventually forgive her for leaving me behind. I'd marry Seth, eventually. We had all the time in the world.

The sun sank as I wheeled my suitcase out of the dark, empty house. One more sunset tucked away into my mind. We got in the car and I watched the house as it disappeared behind me. The sun's light faded away, leaving us in a comfortable darkness.

The End.


	27. Goodbye

_A Letter to the Readers_

Okay, hey, guys. I'm emotional. Volume One of a story that started with a photograph one year ago is now over. I never believed I'd finish it, because I'm not a person who tends to finish things, but here it is, done. Thank you so much for supporting me, following me, reviewing, or just silently reading. I'm a completely different person from when I started the story. That has little to do with the story itself, but a lot to do with how it was written.

I look forward to starting the first chapter of Volume Two. Maybe it'll be posted tonight, or maybe tomorrow. I know I'll keep going because this story is the only thing keeping me out of depression. If anyone wants to hang out with me or get to know me, my tumblr url is magnuxs! I mostly blog about shadowhunters, but if anyone wants to message me that's totally cool!

Alright, see you cuties in the next book.

All my love, Eli xx


	28. Chapter 28

Hey, guys!

Just letting everyone following this story know that the first two chapters of the sequel are up! The story is titled "Waterfalls" and can be found on my profile or by searching it. Thanks again for reading, hope to hear from you all soon!

Eli xx


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